The world today makes us look at things with a new perspective. For me opening up about my problems is hard, as it is for most. Complaining about them is easy, but sharing feelings is the challenge. We have a hard time opening up about the rough things going on deep inside and too rarely slow down enough to process them, as pushing through and staying too busy is much easier. However, COVID-19 hit the brakes on our busyness and forced many of us to deal with we had ignored. It reminds me of the chorus of The Run and Go from the album Vessel. Sometimes we fear sharing, but we are afraid of being alone more.
Don’t wanna call you in the nighttime
Don’t wanna give you all my pieces
Don’t wanna hand you all my trouble
Don’t wanna give you all my demons
You’ll have to watch me struggle
From several rooms away
But tonight I’ll need you to stay
The Run and Go – Twenty One Pilots
We were created for community, and during a time of isolation, it feels we are being cut off from those we love and miss dearly, and I know for me that doesn’t help opening up. As the closing seconds of the music video reveal, we are not that far off from one another, and even in a time of online-only communication, reaching out is key. Now that we are on our way out of quarantine, restrictions are lifting, and we are beginning seeing more of our loved ones, let’s not forget what this time has shown us. We need each other, and more often than not, we don’t share what’s in our hearts. Text your dad back, call your mom and grandma, send that hilarious meme to a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, and have that late night conversation where you nearly end it 20 times, but it’s just too good to end. Show that you care and let yourself be cared for. Make an impact in someone’s life today.
Similarly, Twenty One Pilots music has made a big impact on my life. I have listened to Twenty One Pilots since shortly after the release of Vessel, their first album with Fueled by Ramen, back in 2013. I even saw them at a music festival on my 21st birthday and made my way to a front row spot. I was able to see them once more in 2015 at a music venue and the joy of singing along with a couple hundred kindred strangers and a long time friend to song we all knew backwards and forwards is a special memory for me. They are easily one of my top five favorite artists, but enough about my love in a generic sense.
On April 9th, they released a single with the most positive feedback to date, if ever. Level of Concern touches a pain that the entire world is feeling as we are restricted in what we can do and where we can go than many of us ever have felt before. This puts into words many of the struggles we endure with much uncertainty. The sense of relief hearing another human say or sing of the troubles we have faced or are currently facing is one of the most reassuring things on this earth. I believe this is one of the reasons we love music. Artists have a poetic way of emoting what we feel because it is what they have felt. Often I feel as though I could have never put it that eloquently, and we relish the beauty of their words, but it is the heart and soul poured out in the lyrics we relate to most deeply. To know our troubles are not only ours, but others have faced them and survived them helps us to realize and internalize the truth that we too can make it through if we put our trust where it belongs.
In this song, Tyler Joseph says his level of concern can be reduced by the assurances of others. Sometimes that is what we need, to be reminded that our circumstances do not determine everything, but reminded we will be okay. The problem is, those reassuring us do not have the power to ensure that everything will be okay. This is where our faith and assurance has to be founded on something greater than ourselves, something greater than our friends, and something greater than our family. Our faith has to be in God, the God of the Bible, for only He is wise enough, only He is strong enough to handle the events of today and tomorrow such that we have something to be sure of. He is worthy!
haveyouheard 