Music and lyrics by Victor Nicholas Hafichuk
Dauphin, Manitoba, 1978-79
One of the greatest battles I’ve had in my pilgrimage into the Kingdom of Heaven was to forsake my earthly father. His draw on my heart was powerful. In his last years, his state was so pitiable that it was very hard for me to refuse him his desire, which was contrary to my Heavenly Father’s will. It was a battle to the finish.
In March 1985, I received a vision of the Lord. He was standing up to put a stop to the enemies who were tormenting me. My mother called the next morning to tell me Dad died. Curiously, he was buried on my birthdate, April 1, 1985. I found that significant. In his death, I felt loosened, with new freedom and power.
In my seventy-four years, I’ve rarely heard of people referring to their mother as “the old lady”; a wife, perhaps, but not a mother. However, the world often refers to a father as “the old man.” This is a curious thing. The Scriptures speak of the inner old man, or the flesh, referring to the Adamic, carnal nature we all are from birth, also called the “man of sin,” the natural man who has opposed God since The Fall in Eden.
The difference between the unbeliever and the believer in Christ is that the “old man” in the believer has been addressed and “served notice” that “there’s a New Sheriff in town.” That lawless person (the old man) must now understand that his time has come for judgment, indeed, death. When Christ comes into a person’s life, his old man becomes a “dead man walking.”
The Christian walk is a conflict between the death of the old man and Life in the new born again man in and through Christ Jesus, the Savior of all men.
The born again apostle Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (New Living Translation)
On behalf of all believing men, the apostle wrote:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 King James Version).
My Father in Heaven timed my earthly father’s burial to demonstrate that my old man was dead and buried: On April 1, 1985, the first day of my 39th year, Nicholas Hafichuk, after whom I was named, was buried. I wasn’t permitted to go to his funeral. Think of it: who has ever gone to their own funeral?
When one of my listeners to A Deadly Pull asked me who died, I said it was I. She replied, “It doesn’t say that in the song.”
I replied, “You’re right, but listen carefully and consider.” It WAS my battle, my death, and my grave I was singing about, not my earthly father’s. But only those who have experienced the cross of Christ would understand.
This song represents the past, long ago. I live a glorious new life now, as described in other songs, such as The Flutterby, Flying, From the Mountaintop, and Take Two.