Hotel California

One of my favorite tunes of all time: Hotel California, by the Eagles.

As legend has it, the actual 'Hotel California' is in a small village called Todos Santos, in the California Baja, north of Los Cabos, Mexico. So, as legend has it, I went there last week to verify the legend. I really did. And it's true.

You gotta understand, I grew up listening to the Eagles (the Don Henley). This album came out during my senior year of high school in Southern California. An epic record, and epic song, an epic time in our history. The theories are many about the lyrics and the meaning of the song. (i.e. there isn't an actual hotel you see, it's a frame of mind ...... yada, yada, yada ......). Some things take on a life of their own and people get all wrapped-around-the-axle trying to figure out what the writer meant by this, and that, and all of that other stuff. And when asked, the writers themselves don't even know what happened - it just sounded good at the time. And it did. And it still does - which makes it a classic. But is it true?

So my story, and I'm sticking with it, is that the hotel I was at last week is THE Hotel California. It was a 'dark desert highway' that we traveled to get there, and the 'cool wind in my hair' felt pretty good, I have to admit. (ok,ok, it was a white-hot desert highway and it was 105 degrees in the shade, but let's not get lost in the details - it was the Baja in July).

So I was thinking: What can you believe in these days? What is "truth" - really? What's real? What did he mean when he said that? No kiddng you say - I'm not the first to ask those questions ..... ?

Well, I do like the old adage I remember my dad saying in church one day: "real truth was true yesterday, it's true today, and will be true tomorrow - it doesn't change with public opinion". And I'll add my own adage: "What you think, or choose to believe, or want to believe, doesn't really matter a whole lot when it comes to truth. Get over it. It either is, or it isn't". (but I'm a little cold hearted that way, sorry).

Check out I John 4:4-6. Ouch, that one will rattle your cage, talking about the world and truth and how to recognize it. I saw that this morning and thought about the "Hotel California" - weird huh? It's the first time I've seen that, and I've seen it a thousand times (if you know what I mean).

Is your mind 'tiffany twisted'? Mine gets that way sometimes (often), and I have to get straightened out - I've got to get back to what's real and true. How about you?