Driving to Isabel's this afternoon, I heard George Strait's "Write This Down" on the car radio. It's apparently a fairly old song, released in 1999...but it's the first I ever heard it so it's new to me.
Anyway, it seems like a pretty fitting allegory on the Divine transmission of the Bible. I'll admit that the opening stanza severely handicaps my allegorical reading, but by the time you're done, I can't help but imagine God singing it to Moses at the top of the mountain...
I never saw the end in sight; fools are kind of blind.
[Peter's Note: This obviously conflicts with God's omniscience...however, you will note that the speaker says "Fools are kind of blind." This qualification suggests that the speaker may in fact have had full knowledge of what was going on, but chose to act as though he didn't. Of course, this would still make the speaker deceptive, which also puts a kink in a theological allegorization...but I think one could stretch it just far enough to here a God-figure say: "I knew you would go astray if I made, but I loved you so much, I couldn't help but make you and act as if you weren't." After all, it's not like God tells Adam and Eve: "You will eat the apple and you will die."]
Thought everything was going alright, but I was running out of time.
'Cause you had one foot out the door, I swear I didn't see
[Again, the lack of foreknowledge crops up as a problem, but you do have that line in Genesis where God asks Adam what's wrong, as if He didn't already know even though he does.]
But if you're really going away, here's some final words from me.
Baby, write this down, take a little note to remind you in case you didn't know,
[The "baby" in question here would, of course, be Moses.]
Tell yourself I love you and I don't want you to go, write this down.
[God is Love...and He doesn't want us to go...so He tells Moses to write down His words as a reminder.]
Take my words, read 'em every day, keep 'em close by, don't you let 'em fade away,
[Are you not buying it yet?]
So you'll remember what I forgot to say, write this down.
[I'm not quite sure how the "forgot to say" works here, although it is worth considering that the Law wasn't nearly as codified or complex until Moses. The construction of the Torah was a defining moment for Judaism and Israelite national identity. It was as if God was filling in all kinds of gaps left open under the covenant with Abraham.]
I'll sign it at the bottom of the page, I'll swear under oath
[Is God's signature not at the bottom of every page of the Bible?]
'Cause every single word is true, and I think you need to know,
[A little too obvious, eh?]
So use it as a bookmark, stick it on your 'frigerator door,
[This recalls far too many tacky Christian novelty items in shrine gift shops...]
Hang it in a picture frame up above the mantel where you'll see it for sure.
You can find a chisel, I can find a stone.
[...oh, come on...this is too easy now!]
Folks will be reading these words, long after we're gone.
[Do you see the big flashing neon light that says "BIBLICAL ALLEGORY" hanging over the text yet?]
Baby, write this down, take a little note to remind you in case you didn't know,
Tell yourself I love you and I don't want you to go, write this down.
Take my words, read 'em every day, keep 'em close by, don't you let 'em fade away,
So you'll remember what I forgot to say, write this down.
Oh I love you and I don't want you to go, baby write this down.
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