Deep Into The Soil - In Confidence

He plugged in the new CD for me as I sat shotgun waiting to hear. I don’t think it took more than two lines before I had tears springing to my eyes. It was Alan Jackson’s new CD and I had been anxious to hear it. My son, knowing that, had bought me one on his last trip to town.

Spread your wings, don't be afraid to try. The world can be hard, you gotta live a little 'fore you die. So open that door, step out in the bright sunshine Follow your heart, and remember any time You can always come home…

I knew in my heart immediately the story behind this song. This was something Alan Jackson’s Daddy Gene had told him, when he left home. Obviously, he had in turn told his own daughters when it came time and he was now sharing it with the world in song.

I wasn’t surprised at all when I later heard that is exactly the back story behind this song. That’s why I love country music and Alan Jackson – there is always a back story that in the end is simply about life.

I guess I was more sensitive to this song, as my own son was also leaving home. Oh, he had left home before for summers at a time. I had already felt a bit of the empty nest syndrome, but now he had bought his own house. It was permanent this time.

Then too, the line in the song’s title “You Can Always Come Home” is so contrary to today’s thinking. Most parents today, are glad to get their kids out of the house and they don’t want them to come back. “You can always come home” is contrary to Thomas Wolfe’s negative novel You Can Never Go Home Again that we were required to read in school. The world’s view! Certainly not my view and apparently not country music’s view.

So I relished in the words; taking them all in as I listened. It was so encouraging, so uplifting to hear something in support of the way that things should be. We want the best for our kids. We want to be there for them. But at the same time we should absolutely glory in the fact that they are capable and ready to leave home. We want them to spread their wings and fly. For then we have truly done our jobs well.

We have all heard the old quote:

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other wings.

There are a few different versions of this quote, with no one being able to settle on the true source.  I don’t really care about that. I just believe deeply the truth in the thought that is taught here.

Good parents give their children roots and wings: roots to know where home is, and wings to fly off and practice what has been taught them.

I like the version below best, and it seems to be attributed to the original – printed in a newspaper without citing the source, but rather from an anonymous woman.

A wise woman once said to me that there are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these she said is roots, the other, wings. And they can only be grown, these roots and these wings, in the home. We want our sons’ roots to go deep into the soil beneath them and into the past, not in arrogance but in confidence.

I love that!! "Our sons' roots to go deep...not in arrogance but in confidence." Of course, the same is (or should be) for our daughters as well, but I have a son, so this speaks to my heart.

The roots we have built for our sons life is of course as important as the wings we have given him. But it is simply time for the wings. And that is as it should be.

But my favorite part of the song, because I am a mom? 

You know that there's someone praying for you every day Even if you never find your way You'll never be alone, in your heart there's still a place No matter how right or wrong you've gone

You can always come home

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"You Can Always Come Home"

Spread your wings, don't be afraid to try

The world can be hard, you gotta live a little 'fore you die

So open that door, step out in the bright sunshine

Follow your heart, and remember any time

 You can always come home

Wherever life's road leads, you can get back

To a love that's strong and free

You never be alone, in your heart there's still a place

No matter how right or wrong you've gone

You can always come home

 So pack your bags, smile and say goodbye

And chase those dreams, and when you lay down and die

You know that there's someone praying for you every day

Even if you never find your way

You can always come home

Wherever life's road leads, you can get back

To a love that's strong and free

You never be alone, in your heart there's still a place

No matter how right or wrong you've gone

You can always come home

 When I was young, my daddy said to me

The very same words and I took those words with me

When I was afraid, I'd pull them out and think

Just how much they mean to me

You can always come home

Wherever life's road leads, you can get back

To a love that's strong and free

You'll never be alone, in your heart there's still a place

No matter how right or wrong you've gone

You can always come home

 

Enjoy!!