Can you imagine what it must be like to hear police pounding on your door at 3 in the morning telling you that if you don't leave immediately you will be burned alive? You grab--what?--your kids, jump in the car, and drive away as fast as you can.That happened to Jon Foreman of the band Switchfoot a few years ago, and he wrote a song about it?called "If?The House Burns Down Tonight"[the link has since been taken down]:

A few months back, a fire was raging through our home-town of San Diego. And when an unstoppable fire is barrelling down towards your part of town, you realize just how small you really are. The smoke blocks out the sun, the ash is falling from the sky, and your lungs begin to burn. So you run through the house and make a quick grab of the stuff you can carry, make sure that your family is safe in the car, and you make your escape.

It's a bracing thought: what if everything you had was about to burn?

Compared to the ones you love, what is ownership? What is property? Stuff? Possessions? In moments of life and death, these obsessions are meaningless. Think about what you would save from the fire. What would you fight for? Or maybe the real question is who- who would you risk your life for? And what about your things, all of that stuff that you paid so much for?? In the crucible of the fire, it becomes crystal clear: you let the rest burn.

I love that: the thought that everything is about to burn makes it clear what really matters--those are the things you'd be willing to fight for or risk your life for.What are those things for you today? Friends--all the rest: it doesn't matter.Let the rest burn.*

Ashes from the flamesThe truth is what remainsThe truth is what you saveFrom the fireAnd you fight for what you loveDon't matter if it hurtsYou find out what it's worthAnd you let the rest burn

The sunset burns like gasolineTouch me and make sure that I'm not dreamingI see her face and my heart skips beatsBut I still get the feeling that we're half asleep andThere's a spark in the corner of my baby's eyeLike a distant star that won't burn quietAnd I might not know what I want from this lifeBut I know I want more than the starting line

So give me the fire

I can hear the motor running down the interstateAnd all the distractions fade awayAnd if the house burns down tonightI got everything I need with you by my sideI see the smoke piling up in the rear view mirrorYeah but I ain't ever seen it any clearerIf the house burns down tonightI got everything I need when I got you by my sideAnd let the rest burnAnd let the rest burnAnd let the rest burn

I've given too much of my heart awayMy soul‘s holding on like a house dividedLike a match it burns down like a masqueradeAnd I had to let it go when the fire ignited

One heart, two hands, your life is all you hold(your life is all you hold)To hold, hold tight and let the bitter goYeah let it go, and give me the fire

The smoke tries choking the pacific sunWe rocket down the road like we're shot out of gunsAnd if the house burns down tonightI got everything I need with you by my sideHolding you and the wheel and it occurs to meWe're driving down the edge of eternityAnd if the house burns down tonightI got everything I need when I got you by my sideAnd let the rest burnAnd let the rest burn

Put your hand in mine andPut your heart in drivingWe got everything we need yeahWe got everything we need yeahLeft it all behind usWhat we need will find us

We got everything we need yeahWe got everything we need yeah

Can you hear that motor runningCan you hear that motor running

There ain‘t no stopping us nowThere ain‘t no slowing us down

Can you hear that motor runningCan you hear that motor run, run, run

And all those lies that mattered most to meWere draining me dry making a ghost of meAnd if the house burns down tonightI got everything I need, everything I needThere‘s a fire coming that we all will go throughYou possess your possessions or they possess youAnd if the house burns down tonightI got everything I need when I got you by my side

And let the rest burn

Ashes from the flames, the truth is what remains