Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford & Sons
Reflection
Roll away your stone, I'll roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don't leave me alone at this time
For I'm afraid of what I will discover inside'Cause you told me that I would find a hole
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals
The idea of rolling away a stone immediately makes me think of the Easter story, when Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John found the tomb that Jesus was buried in fully open, stone rolled away. I would imagine they found themselves terrified, angered, and confused. They did not fully realize what was happening but would soon come to know the joy and relief that comes with the resurrection of Christ.
This song, however, brings a different idea to mind. Marcus Mumford sings of the void in our very souls where we’ve kept all of the darkest parts of ourselves. There are things I’ve hidden and pushed deep down to keep from others seeing it. Things that gnaw at me from time to time and remind me of who I was or who I really am. I’m sure you’ve felt the same. We keep these things hidden all the while knowing it’s there taking up space in our hearts, minds, and souls. Why would we ever roll the stone away from that place and allow those things out?
"Darkness" is a harsh term don't you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see
In the Bible story we know that Jesus was not meant to be buried away. He was meant to break out, to be resurrected, and to fulfill the prophecies written about Him. But what about the darkness that fills our tombs? The depression, anxiety, the “should haves” and “shouldn’t haves,” the guilt, shame, and sin that is kept in the deepest parts of us. The parts we don’t want anyone else to see, but is all we see in ourselves. It would make sense to shove it down, hide it, and roll a stone over the void we’ve put it in. But what if we believe this truth - if we let those things out of our tombs, we are actually opening ourselves up to the one who broke out of the tomb centuries ago.
It seems that all my bridges have been burnt
But you say that's exactly how this grace thing works.
It's not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with a restart
Another Bible story comes to mind with this verse and it’s that of the Prodigal Son. The son who had become a disgrace to to his father and practically disowned his family turned around and came home. And while he was a long way off his father ran to him, hugged him, and welcomed him back to a new life at home. If we’re honest with ourselves there is always something we can relate to in the story of the Prodigal Son. There are bridges we’ve burned to the ground, relationships we’ve damaged, people we’ve hurt, a continued darkness we keep inside ourselves. But there’s a beautiful thing about grace and that when we turn home, when we’ve released ourselves of the things that have caused us to stray, we receive a restart and a welcome home.
Hide your fires
These here are my desires
And I will give them up to you this time around
And so I'll be found
With my stake stuck in this ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul
I realize I’m combining two different Bible stories here, but I think they truly work well with the song. I hope you’re able to roll that stone away from that deep, dark void in your soul and let go of the things that haunt you. I hope you can find others to help you roll that stone away if you cannot do it yourself. Let us share our burdens, our struggles, our darkness with others, so that we may receive what is waiting for us outside the tomb. Let us run out of the tomb and into the arms of grace.
Links
Lyrics
Roll away your stone, I'll roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don't leave me alone at this time
For I'm afraid of what I will discover inside
'Cause you told me that I would find a hole
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals
"Darkness" is a harsh term don't you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see
It seems that all my bridges have been burnt
But you say that's exactly how this grace thing works.
It's not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with a restart
"Darkness" is a harsh term don't you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see
"Darkness" is a harsh term don't you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see
Stars hide your fires
These here are my desires
And I will give them up to you this time around
And so I'll be found
With my stake stuck in this ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul
Hide your fires
These here are my desires
And I will give them up to you this time around
And so I'll be found
With my stake stuck in this ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul
But you, you've gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine