I'm glad "Walk the Line" is bringing Johnny Cash back.
But I hope the movie sparks more than a renewed passion for the
man's music. I hope it moves us to see Cash's often tortured life as
the embodiment of true faith. Here was a Christian with scars inside
and out, a complicated soul who rediscovered and ultimately embraced
God, even if the journey was filled with a lifetime of wild detours.
See the movie. Sing along to classics like "Folsom Prison Blues,"
which still give voice to those dealing with their demons and others
who live like angels. Then dig deeper into his life and appreciate Cash
for what he was: An imperfect person who reminds us that God doesn't
turn his back on those who wear black.
The well-received film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese
Witherspoon focuses understandably on the love and harmonies of Johnny
and June Carter Cash. Maybe we need a sequel focusing on the
spirituality that helped bring so much depth to his work.
Growing up in Arkansas, Cash professed a belief in Christ at age 12.
But as Christianity Today magazine wrote after his death in 2003, Cash
lost sight of him in a haze of addiction, family problems and failing
health. He described sex and drugs as demons and once said, "All of a
sudden there'll be a beautiful little Percodan laying there, and you'll
want it."
Years before he died at 71, Cash had found Christ and his June.
Together, they gave him strength to turn his back on the devil. He was
the same melancholy man whose hurts made him a poet. But he was older
now, wiser, with an unmistakable contentment you could hear in that
baritone.
When he and June rose to sing "Precious Memories" at the 1996
Charlotte, N.C., crusade of his dear friend, Billy Graham, he affirmed
the sentiment he had shared in an interview two years before:
"I am not obsessed with death; I'm obsessed with living. The battle
against the dark one and the clinging to the right one is what my life
is all about."
I was channel-surfing the other night when I came across an old Arthur Smith show on public television.
It was a black-and-white tape from Smith's popular TV show years
ago. This segment featured the Carolinas musical legend making small
talk with Johnny and June Carter Cash.
I was about to surf on when suddenly they broke into that old gospel classic written by Arthur Smith, "I Saw a Man."
I listened to the harmony.
I turned an ear for that growl, rich, dark and somber, nearly off-key actually.
I admired, as always, The Man in Black's clothing, his way of showing solidarity with the have-nots.
I stared at his scars.
I saw a man whose life and death sends a message as powerful as any creed.
Any one of us can find God, even after we've lost him.
