Article #10 - Fourth Series - June 19th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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Article #10 - Fourth Series - June 19th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Article:
Patsy Cline starred in both country and pop music. She is also the first solo female artist to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Despite the fact that she passed away in a plane crash at the age of 31, her contribution to Country Music lives on. 

In 1957, Cline released the song “You’ll know.” The lyrics: “You don’t know the meaning of the words ‘I love you so’ but when you’ve found your one love, then you’ll know.”

The song describes a situation in which a lover informs her significant other that he is not in love with her. Therefore, he needs to move on. 

In fact, Cline’s song captures some of the most important questions in life: How do two people know if they are in love? How does one know what path to take in life?

Note Cline’s lyrics: “You don’t know the meaning of the words ‘I love you so’ but when you’ve found your one love, then you’ll know.” Cline’s thought is that there is something within the person (intuition, gut-feeling, hunch, etc.) that just seems to know. 

In English we have phrases to describe what Cline is singing about: it just seems right, my breath is taken away, I’m falling head over heels, I’m falling in love, it’s a match made in Heaven, love at first sight, etc. All of these point to a similar conclusion - “you’ll just know.”

Our English phrases are interesting when one considers how we love facts, want to know all the details, want to see cause and effect, and want to verify everything. Our English phrases don’t even bother with trying to explain love in detail. Even Albert Einstein had fun with the mysterious aspect of love when he said, “Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.”

Although Cline’s song refers to two people in a relationship, I think her words can be applied to life in a broader sense. Her song relates to anyone’s vocation in life. For example, how does a woman “know” that she is called to be a religious sister or how does one “know” that he is called to be a priest? Cline’s song can also be interpreted through one’s profession. How do people “know” that they are called to be a doctor, teacher, lawyer, engineer, accountant, electrician, etc. 

How, then, do we talk about this intuition, hunch, sixth sense, gut-feeling, or whatever word we would like to use to describe Cline’s “you’ll know” statement?

Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote in his work, Grammar of Assent, that the most important decisions in life (e.g., like belief in God, one's vocation) rarely come from a specific argument, experience, or proposition. Instead, accepting a truth comes from a whole string of arguments, intuitions, hunches, insights, and experiences that come together to a common point. In other words, “everything is pointing in that direction” is Newman’s insight. 

This is also Patsy Cline’s insight in her song. The lover knows that the man is not in love. She knows that he cannot say “it just seems right” or “my whole life is pointing in this direction.” She has an intuition, gut-feeling, and hunch that this isn’t right, this isn’t love. 

I think that Cline’s song is very important for people wondering, “Am I in love?” or “What path should I take in life?” Cline’s song, which is a poetic way of describing Cardinal Newman’s insight, challenges us to step back, analyze one’s entire life, see the trajectory, and come to understand the common point of intersection. 

Then, it is right to say…you’ll just know. 
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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.