Springsteen & Lenten Letters to God

I am a fan of Bruce Springsteen. I love his music, but I am even a greater fan of the human being. In his book Born to Run, The Boss writes about the influence his Catholic upbring had on his life, and on his writing:

“As I grew older, there were certain things about the way I thought, reacted, behaved. I came to ruefully and bemusedly understand that once you’re a Catholic, you’re always a Catholic. So I stopped kidding myself. I don’t often participate in my religion but
I know somewhere… deep inside…
I’m still on the team.”

There is no question that the faith of his childhood has influenced much of Springsteen’s writing.

The above video for Letter to You, is for a song from his 2020 Album of the same name. The first time I heard it, I heard a prayer. The language of bowed heads and of getting down on knees, certainly conjures images of prayer. But more stirring to me are the lyrics that speak to taking “all my fears and doubts.. all the hard things I found out.. all my happiness and pain,” and offering them in an epistle – all the more reminiscent of scripture. This is language of prayer. It honours the vulnerability that comes with pouring out one’s deepest self in honesty – sharing all that heart finds true – that which we might not be so quick to share with anyone else. The language Springsteen uses also hints at praise and lament – or as he phrases it – Happiness and pain.

So for this first post of Lent 2022, I want invite us to take a page from the Boss’ Prayer Book. That is to say – what if you were to sit this evening, take a pen, bow your head and summon up what is deepmost in your heart and send it in a letter to God, what might it say? If you are to, on the second day of Lent think about hard times and good, pain and happiness, the hard things you’ve found out… what would that prayer look like? I intend to write that letter tonight – I invite you to do so as well.

Here are the full lyrics to Letter to You

‘Neath a crown of mongrel trees
I pulled that bothersome thread
Got down on my knees
Grabbed my pen and bowed my head
Tried to summon all that my heart finds true
And send it in my letter to you

Things I found out through hard times and good
I wrote ’em all out in ink and blood
Dug deep in my soul and signed my name true
And sent it in my letter to you

In my letter to you
I took all my fears and doubts
In my letter to you
All the hard things I found out
In my letter to you
All that I’ve found true
And I sent it in my letter to you

I took all the sunshine and rain
All my happiness and all my pain
The dark evening stars
And the morning sky of blue
And I sent it in my letter to you
And I sent it in my letter to you

In my letter to you
I took all my fears and doubts
In my letter to you
All the hard things that I found out
In my letter to you
All that I found true
And I sent it in my letter to you
I sent it in my letter to you