An old song had the lyrics
“Some people say a man is made out of mud. Other folks say we’re muscle and blood;
muscle and blood and skin and bones and a mind that’s weak and a back that’s strong.”
The words described how most Americans made a living before manual labor was replaced by backhoes, excavators, bulldozers, pumps, conveyors, underground miners, and the myriad of labor-saving machines that have eliminated most manual labor.
“You work all day, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.
St. Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go. I owe my soul to the company store.”
The song reflects life. The truth of the first sentence disappears in the complexity that follows. God did make the first man out of “mud”. The song goes from the recognition of God to focus on the complexity of mind, body and making a living.
Then, the awareness of an immortal soul called away to Judgment resurfaces, to be again buried in human worries.
It is life. Catholic Fundamentalists read Genesis, and agree that “a man is made out of mud”. And, we also know that Catholics are not made merely out of “muscle and blood”. We, who are blessed to receive The Body and Blood of Christ in Catholic Communion have “His Body and Blood” within us.
That helps us keep track of our most important possession, the soul that, very soon, St. Peter will call. As Catholics, enlightened by Christ’s Body and Blood, we have life in us, and may be blessed to go on to bigger and better things than “owing my soul to the company store.”
Once, we were free to sing such simple songs of Creation, Life, and Salvation. Such songs are no longer allowed to be popularized and broadcast. Those who control the airwaves have their own reasons to keep us from thinking about the awful eternity faced by those who die and “owe my soul to the company store”.
