The Name
If you don't know the song reference....this blog name is not going to make alot of sense. Let me call upon my good friend Wikipedia to give a nice readers digest summary of this 1972 Jim Croce song entitled, "Don't Mess Around With Jim"
The lyrics tell the story of "Big Jim Walker", a pool hustler who is not too bright but is very strong and respected because of his tough reputation and his skill at pool. The regulars at the pool hall have this advice:
You don't tug on Superman's cape // You don't spit into the wind // You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger // And you don't mess around with Jim
A man named Willie McCoy who is also a pool player comes to the pool hall to get his money back from Big Jim after being hustled out of it the previous week. Willie McCoy is known as "Slim" back in his hometown in south Alabama. Big Jim comes into the pool room and is shot and killed by Willie McCoy. McCoy gets his money back and the regulars at the pool hall now have different advice as Willie McCoy now has all of the respect: "You don't mess around with Slim".
To me - and I'm ok with being alone in these thoughts - the song is a great metaphor. I do not want to be those pool hall regulars who are going through life letting Big Jim push them around. I want to be be like Willie (sans the shooting and the cutting and of course the being from Alabama) - a guy who stands up to it.
What is the "it"? What is the Big Jim Walker? It can be one thing. It can be alot of things. What is your Big Jim Walker? I can't answer that question for you, I can only sort it out and answer it for myself. That is what I seek to do here in my writings....share how my "Willie" is standing up to my "Jim" (or maybe even how my Willie failed to stand up to Jim).
As a follower of Christ, I can take the metaphor one step further. I don't want to be a "pool hall regular" Christian who is pushed around by my enemy, my addictions, my fears or my flesh! I want to stand up with the authority I have in Christ and be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:6, "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."). I don't want to let fear (or "society" or what's "accepted" or what's "popular") dictate what I do - I want to live out Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.".
Big shout out to Jim Croce for writing an awesome song....
You don't tug on Superman's cape // You don't spit into the wind // You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger // And you don't mess around with Jim
A man named Willie McCoy who is also a pool player comes to the pool hall to get his money back from Big Jim after being hustled out of it the previous week. Willie McCoy is known as "Slim" back in his hometown in south Alabama. Big Jim comes into the pool room and is shot and killed by Willie McCoy. McCoy gets his money back and the regulars at the pool hall now have different advice as Willie McCoy now has all of the respect: "You don't mess around with Slim".
To me - and I'm ok with being alone in these thoughts - the song is a great metaphor. I do not want to be those pool hall regulars who are going through life letting Big Jim push them around. I want to be be like Willie (sans the shooting and the cutting and of course the being from Alabama) - a guy who stands up to it.
What is the "it"? What is the Big Jim Walker? It can be one thing. It can be alot of things. What is your Big Jim Walker? I can't answer that question for you, I can only sort it out and answer it for myself. That is what I seek to do here in my writings....share how my "Willie" is standing up to my "Jim" (or maybe even how my Willie failed to stand up to Jim).
As a follower of Christ, I can take the metaphor one step further. I don't want to be a "pool hall regular" Christian who is pushed around by my enemy, my addictions, my fears or my flesh! I want to stand up with the authority I have in Christ and be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:6, "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."). I don't want to let fear (or "society" or what's "accepted" or what's "popular") dictate what I do - I want to live out Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.".
Big shout out to Jim Croce for writing an awesome song....
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Don't you know?
You don't tug on Superman's cape,
you don't spit into the wind,
you don't pull the mask
off that ol' Lone Ranger and you
don't mess around with Jim
-- Jim Croce, 1972
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