"To be like Jesus, we need Jesus himself"

Amazingly, I have not read many interpretations of U2's "When You Look at the World" that will even admit that the song only ultimately makes sense as a prayer..as the "you" is "You" (Jesus)...
(Almost everyone says it is addressed..only...to his wife).

And I am not sure I have read any that get what I have always maintained is obvious:
the "I try to be like you...but without you it's no use" is basic, profound gospel...
Until Beth, of course:

...Naturally, we strive to emulate anyone we admire that deeply: "So I try to be like you, try to feel it like you do." But the singer's prayer reveals a discovery that he can't, that his efforts are "no use... without you." To be like Jesus, we need Jesus himself. Only by letting God graft us into the Union he embodies can we find the fruit of that Union manifest in us.
-Beth Maynard, U2Sermons

When I Look At The World:

When You look at the world
What is it that You see
People find all kinds of things
That bring them to their knees
I see an expression
So clear and so true
That changes the atmosphere
When You walk into the room

So I try to be like You
Try to feel it like You do
But without You it's no use
I can't see what You see
When I look at the world

When the night is someone elses
And you're trying to get some sleep
When your thoughts are too expensive
To ever want to keep
When there's all kinds of chaos
And everyone is walking lame
You don't even blink now, do you
Or even look away

So I try to be like You
Try to feel it like You do
But without You it's no use
I can't see what You see
When I look at the world

I can't wait any longer
I can't wait till I'm stronger
I can't wait any longer
To see what you see
When I look at the world

I'm in the waiting room
Can't see for the smoke
I think of You and Your holy book
While the rest of us choke
Tell me, tell me, what do You see
Tell me, tell me, what's wrong with me



Rare live version snippet: