As I pointed out in my last post, one of the major themes in Trains, Jesus and Murder: The Gospel According to Johnny Cash is that the gospel is rooted in solidarity, God standing with the oppressed, excluded and marginalized. Cash gave voice to this gospel when he sang for "the poor and beaten down, livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town."
Another aspect of the gospel is how grace comes to us in our weakness and in our hurt, as Cash also gave voice to late in his career when he covered Trent Reznor's "Hurt."
In Trains, Jesus and Murder I explore these themes of hurt and grace through the story of Cash's struggle with addiction. This is the theme of my third post on the Tokens Show blog:
The song Cash felt best described this time of his life was his cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Mornin’ Coming Down,” a song Kristofferson wrote to give voice to his own battles with substance use. Looking back over the years of his addiction, Cash said about the song, “It didn’t hit me until one day when I was at home and out by the lake and I realized how far I had come from the days when I felt like the man in the song…so empty and alone. All of a sudden the lines of the song started running through my head and I realized I could identify with every one of them”:
Well I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head, that didn't hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad
So I had one more for dessert
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day
On a Sunday morning sidewalk
I'm wishing Lord that I was stoned
'Cause there's something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone
And there's nothin' short of dyin'
That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleepin' city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin' comin' down
Trains, Jesus, and Murder officially launches next week, on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Books are shipping now! Get your copy at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Indiebound.
If you'd like to help launch the book, give it some social media love leading up to November 5. And if you like the book, consider giving it a review online somewhere.
Also, as I'll share through the week, if you're interested me bringing the gospel and Johnny Cash to your church, school or organization, I'd be excited to explore that with you. My speaking schedule and contact info is here.
