I Heard It on the Radio - “Rumbleseat”

I Heard It on the Radio - “Rumbleseat”

WHEN IT COMES to putting things into perspective and offering a fresh point of view, there’s probably not a better storyteller and vocalist than John Mellencamp.

In his folk-rock song “Rumbleseat,”^a John takes us to a place where many of us have been before—Loserville. Do you remember a time when you felt like a second-class citizen? Do you remember an incident that crushed your spirit, when your self-confidence took a beating? Do you remember how easy it was to physically and emotionally withdraw and to lose all objectivity?

In a three-minute song, John reminds us that our station in life today is not indicative of where we might be tomorrow. We can choose to look at what we lost yesterday or to find hope in the promise of tomorrow. We can choose to belittle ourselves or to better ourselves. In the end, sitting in the rumble seat is more about our mental perspective than our physical destination: “I’ll be ridin’ high/with my feet kicked up in the rumbleseat.”

So which rumble seat are you sitting in today: the one where you feel a failure or the one where you’re “ridin’ high” because of the lessons and insight you’ve gained?

But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. King David said this about him: “I see that the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope.” (Acts 2:24-26)

Tomorrow is a new day. A gift. Open it with anticipation—and a new outlook.

^a John Mellencamp, “Rumbleseat,” © John Mellencamp, 1985.