What’s a song lyric that has stuck with you forever?
A Song That Stays
A very famous song—”Ask Me”—has stayed with me ever since its release in the 1970s.
The lyrics went roughly like this:
Ask me how much joy I’ve known,
Ask me how much sorrow I’ve borne—
How could I count them one by one?
Ask me why I feel happy,
And why I should feel sorrow…
Whether I’ve done a hundred things right
Or a thousand things wrong,
I will wholeheartedly bear the consequences.
I hope that when my life reaches its end,
No matter how many trials I’ve endured,
I can still say:
I am me.
The message isn’t philosophically profound, but it captures something real—the helplessness of life. Yet if we truly want to live wisely and with understanding, shouldn’t we first ask, before “asking me,” the deeper question: “Who am I?”
Even today, this song lingers with me—not because it’s perfect, but because it echoes the bittersweet realities of life.
Scripture also speaks to our true nature. God created mankind in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26–27), yet all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In other words, every “I” is a sinner—and the wages of sin is death, which means eternal separation from God. Knowing this, we realise it is not as carefree as the lyric suggests—we cannot simply and cheerfully bear the consequences alone.
There is only one way of salvation for humanity: by God’s grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we receive eternal life (Romans 6:23). Faith is the response of the recipient; salvation is the act of the Giver. Together, they point to this truth: in Christ, there is no longer simply “I am me,” but a life lived in the likeness of Christ—made complete in Him.
As Scripture says: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
May the living Word of God be the everlasting lyric of our life’s song. And may the poem below inspire you to find a lyric that will stick with you forever.
—
✨ Ask Who I Am ✨
Sunrise, sunset—
What shifts is not the sun.
Love and hate—
What wavers is not conscience.
Done poorly—it’s another’s fault.
Done well—it’s my own good.
Looking at myself through self—
I see only my shadow.
Lay down the self, depart delusion.
In eternity—I am no longer merely me.
—
en yan hua fang 