OK, so I see that Danny O’s got a link to the White Horse Inn’s chat about worship. Obviously, I’m interested because there is a Bono clip in the session. I go the extra mile and buy the interview that they quoted from audible.com for 8.95. I listened to all 80 minutes of it almost immediately. All I can say is that he has got to be the coolest guy on the planet right now. He did make some comments that I didn’t know what to make of, though. He made an off-handed comment about the reality of karma which made all sorts of bells and whistles go off in my mind. But, he also said that grace bypasses karma from time to time for him. He said, “If graces doesn’t come, I’m fucked.” That couldn’t be more true. I guess it just seems like his message to people is not about Jesus. It seems like he loves Jesus, but it really doesn’t matter to him if anybody else does. I’m all about wanting to bring relief to the poor, medicine to those with AIDS and so forth. But people can do that and still go to hell. To promote moralism can help to a degree, but it doesn’t save anyone from destruction. If Isaiah 61:1ff. served as a paradigm for Jesus’ ministry (see Luke 4:16ff.), then it was not supposed to end in the physical but in the spiritual. Jesus was pissed off with the crowds time and again because they never got this (Mark 9:14). However, the content of his lyrics does give me hope that he may be yet evangelical.

Now for my interpretation of “Wanderer”. First of all, it was sung by Johnny Cash, who has been known to be spiritual, particularly in the past few years. I think the song is about wandering from Christ. Trying to find him in the emptiness of the world, but finding only emptiness. It really seems to be an indictment on the world (finally) as the world tries to mimic heaven without God, or maybe just a self indictment for seeking out the pleasures of sin. It is songs like this that make me have hope for Bono. “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” also seems very spiritual. Check the lyrical survey:

“Vertigo”: “a girl with crimson nails has Jesus round her neck,” “your love is teaching me how to kneel”

“Miracle Drug”: “I was a stranger you took me in” (straight from Matthew 25 even in Bono’s admission in the NY Times interview, it was one of many verses of Scripture he shared the George W. regarding money for AIDS)

“Love and Peace or Else”: “as you enter this life I pray you depart with a wrinkled face and a brand new heart,” “I’m not easy on my knees, here’s my heart and you can break it,” “…all your Daughters of Zion, all your Abraham’s sons”

“All Because of You”: “I was born a child of grace,” “an intellectual tortoise racing with your bullet train,” “I’m not broke but you can see the cracks, You can make me perfect again,” “all because of you I am”

“Yahweh”: give me a break, it’s a worship song

Other interesting tid-bits I’v gathered about Bono: he got nominated for two nobel-peace prizes in consecutive years, he was a fan of Philip Yancey when his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”, hit the market (aparently Bono contacted Yancey to talk about the book and it is one of his favorites)