A Changed Man

Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons are one of the greatest "oldies" bands ever. My mom hates them, mostly because of their falsetto voices, but also because I went through a teenage stage in which I listened to almost nothing else. Well, I listened to everything from the "oldies" genre but they were at the top of the list. One of the reasons I liked them so much was because they were often "heartbreaker" songs. In my stupid adolescence I had a penchant for masochism. I liked the idea of "dying for love." This was influenced also by what I read. Though I listened to relatively innocent music - I mean it was oldies so it was, for the most part, silly cute stuff - that wasn't the same characteristic in my literary life. Nope, my literary life consisted also of the broken heart and aches of romance. The problem with all this was that it was mostly Spanish literature. All of this added up for a very lethal combination. But I learned a very important lesson from the 4 Seasons. In one of their songs (Beggin') they sing:

"I am trying so hard to be your man, the kind of man you want in the end, only then can I be able to live again."

Another key song to expand on this thought comes from the musical Grease and it's the song, You're the One that I Want. In this song Olivia Newton John sings,

"You better shape up, 'cause I need a man, and my heart is set on you."

Now I don't deny that as men we should try to live up to higher expectations, such as those that women often lay on our shoulders. Some people say that people should love us as we are. In a way, that's true, but in another very real way, it's not so true. They need to love us for what we can become, and help us achieve that same potential. Women do mould men, and men do change for women. This is something that begins at the earliest point of childhood between a mother and son and goes all the way through the adolescent boy and girl stages until climaxing with a marital relationship between a husband and wife. But there is something greater. Something that should cause such changes and an intense pursuit of living up to higher expectations. Just as it is love that motivates changes between a man and a woman, so it is now that love motivates more changes in this relationship. I am referring, of course, to the relationship between God and man. This is a relationship that is driven by love and which moves by changes. Changes for the better as the old man is left behind and the body we live in now is crucified with Christ. After all progress has to do with changing, with moving ahead, moving on.