Always Lift Him Up And Never Knock Him Down
When I first arrived at my job as a counselor at Eckerd Youth Alternatives in North Carolina, my friend Jen saw my Old Crow Medicine Show poster and quickly informed me that the unofficial camp theme song was “Wagon Wheel”. It is one of my favorite songs and I soon saw how fitting a theme song it was for our camp of at-risk teenagers. Little did I know at the time that I would soon be taking my guitar from tent to tent to sing the song as a lullaby to my kids. The last words they would hear from me many nights were, “Hey, mama rock me!” When I first heard Old Crow Medicine Show it would have never crossed my mind to use their music to sing someone to sleep, but in the hills of Western Carolina almost anything is possible.
I firmly believe that the people I worked with at Camp E-Ma-Etu are some of the finest and most compassionate souls I will ever meet. They are the rare kind of people who can truly see the good in almost any situation and who treat each and every person they meet with dignity and respect. The young people we served all carried heavy burdens of one kind or another. Most of them came from poor families, many from broken homes, many witnessed substance abuse in their homes or struggled with addictions themselves and I know that more than a few were victims of abuse.
It didn’t take long for me to learn that it takes quite a bit of time and effort to earn the trust of kids who have suffered so much at an early age. You have to learn to forgive easily and to focus always, always on the positive that each day brings. My friend Joe said to me on several occasions when I was discouraged by how a day had gone, “You got them up and dressed, you made sure that they ate three good meals, you kept them safe and got them to bed at a decent hour. That is more than many of their parents could do for them. Be happy for that.”
Old Crow Medicine Show came out with a new album last week and I as have been listening to it, there is one song that I keep coming back to. Every time I hear it I think of all the kids from camp, but more so my co-workers, both those who are still there and those who have moved on to other places. I won’t soon forget my experience of meeting a group of people who work in true humility to make a difference in the lives of kids that most people would simply write off as lost. I would like to suggest that we add a second theme song for E-Ma-Etu. The lyrics are below.
When a man has got the blues and feels discouraged
And has nothing else but trouble all his life
But he’s just an honest man like any other
Living in a world that’s tearing at his mind
If he’s sick and tired of life and takes to drinking
Do not pass him by don’t greet him with a frown
Do not fail to lend your hand and try to help him
Always lift him up and never knock him down
If he stays out late at night because he’s troubled
Or because his home is not what it should be
Have a smile for him wherever you might meet him
It will help him find the right way don’t you see
If he gambles when he’s in the town or city
Tell him what he ought to do to win the round
Do not fail to lend your hand to show him pity
Always lift him up and never knock him down
If he has no friends and everything’s against him
If he’s failed in everything that he has tried
Try to lift his load and help him bear his burden
Let him know that you are walking by his side
If he feels that all is lost and he has fallen
Help to place this poor man’s feet on solid ground
And when this world has turned its back against him
Always lift him up and never knock him down
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