It’s been a while…

I realize that it has been a while since I posted. There are a few people who read the blog regularly so I know I’ve kinda disappointed you. The truth is, I’ve been rethinking things. I went back and read a lot of the stuff I wrote and wanted to do a major overhaul. Of course, then I realized it’s just a blog! Due to a few classes that I took in my last year of university (*sigh*), I started thinking about the nature of ‘art’ and it’s role in our culture. I started to think more about Christianity’s relationship to culture. Christianity has a bit of a PR issue (a term that only our culture could appreciate) in western culture. Gone are the glory days of western domination.

Long story short, I decided to start a new blog. Soundtrack to My Thoughts was an experiment in writing for me. Some friends and strangers seemed to enjoy the stuff that I was writing about, so I guess I passed the test. My new blog is basically an expansion of this one. I like to explore cultural themes, especially when these themes are discussed through ‘art.’

It’s officially up and running, so check out High Thoughts on Low Art.

The kids aren’t alright… anymore.

When I was 17 I swore I’d never do it, but it happened. I grew up. I’ve been reflecting a lot in the last year or so on my childhood and teenage years. Thanks to Facebook, I now know everything that is going on in the lives of every person I’ve ever met. We didn’t all turn out the way we thought we would. Some turned out better, some worse, some didn’t turn out at all.

There is a tragedy in growing older isn’t there? When I was a child I couldn’t wait to grow. I loved the thought of unlimited freedom, late nights and cake for breakfast. But now that I’m an adult I’m not so sure I want to be here. Already, friends are dying. The pressures of life are too much for some. Unlimited freedom didn’t turn out to be all that it’s cracked up to be.

Growing up doesn’t have to be a tragedy but the 9-5 and growing debt doesn’t leave much room for meaning. Before you know it life has nearly passed by and you’re wondering what you’ve done and why things haven’t turned out the way you thought they would when you were a kid.

I don’t know, maybe I’m the only one that thinks about this kind of stuff. I don’t bring this up because I think my life sucks. On the contrary, I think my life is pretty great. I have a great family, amazing wife, and awesome friends. On top of this, I’ve had the privilege of studying philosophy and ancient Christian writings with some top notch scholars for the last few years. I’ve dug deeper into Christianity over the last few years than I ever thought possible. I’ve wrestled with the meaning of life and the meaning of everything else for that matter! I just wish other people had these opportunities.

My life has really changed since I was 17. Believe me, it’s been for the better. The videos that I posted below are about the crappy part of growing older. There is some hope in them though. For some reason, in spite of all the crappiness of life, people still hope for something good.

The Offspring – The Kids Aren’t Alright

Less Than Jake – For The Rest of My Life

Margarine and Eggs.

Do you ever just stop and ask ‘what am I doing?’ You should try it.

My wife and I were at the grocery store this weekend. We needed eggs. I glanced over to the margarine isle and decided that I should go and see what the prices were like. Eventually, I decided that they were too high and I wouldn’t bother buying any. That was our adventurous Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile our friend’s heart was exploding. He died twice; once right in front of his wife. Just like that.

I’m an amazing shopper. The corporate whores that fuel our consumerist culture love me. Do you ever find yourself thinking that maybe the price of margarine isn’t as important as you thought. I hope so.

This is Your Life – Dropkick Murphys

I Choose – The Offspring

No Happy Endings

“The last act is tragic, however happy all the rest of the play is; at the last a little earth is thrown upon our head, and that is the end forever.” ~ Blaise Pascal

Well, maybe there are some happy endings but there are no guarantees. I saw Cloverfield the other night and thought that I’d make a few comments because it really got me thinking.

Most movies start off in a way that really sucks you in. Not so with Cloverfield. The first several minutes of the movie were very boring. They were boring because they were about real life. I won’t spoil the movie for you but let’s just say it was like watching somebody else’s home video. Not everybody’s cup of tea. But isn’t that strange? They make a movie about everyday life and it’s boring.

The second thing that I noticed about Cloverfield is that it doesn’t have a soundtrack. Unless I am completely mistaken, there is no music during the main portion of the movie. Of course, real life doesn’t have a soundtrack either unless you count MP3 players.

Finally, it should be pointed out that there isn’t a happy ending to this movie. Don’t worry, I won’t give it away. Life, of course, doesn’t come with the guarantee of a happy ending.

All in all, I think Cloverfield is a great movie. It’s a great monster movie and it can teach us a few things about life. Real life isn’t like a typical movie. Life has a slow, boring beginning, it has no soundtrack and the ending is often tragic. Yet, somehow it is still worth living.

Just something to think about.

Brutal Planet

I’ve been attending a Christian university for about three years. There are two professors that I quite enjoy that both happened to mention Alice Cooper in their lectures recently. Now that’s odd, two well respected scholars talking about Alice Cooper. Well, they had good reason to bring him up and it reminded that I’ve been planning to write about him (that’s right, Alice is a he).

Cooper is a legendary shock-rocker from the 70’s onward (it might have actually been the 60’s). He influenced the likes of Ozzy Osborne and Marilyn Manson. He’s still touring and writing records but in the mid 90’s things changed a bit. He became a Christian. He’s got a girl’s name, dresses like a villain, gets decapitated on stage, and he’s a Christian.

Cooper released three albums after becoming a Christian that really stand out (and a few since then). The song that I posted is off the second album called Brutal Planet, the song is of the same title. I love this album because it’s about our brutal planet. We’ve managed to mess things up pretty bad and I think the song captures it well. It is a very dark song and the more you dwell on it, the more disturbing it seems. This is real life he’s singing about. Real real life. The video is very dark too. It almost has a sci-fi feel until you pay attention to what he is singing about and realize the lyrics would fit the theme of the six o’clock news (now on at five as well).

Let me point out a couple things to look for.

First, he’s quite blunt. We’ve messed things up, the fault is ours.

Second, there are consequences. It seems that people rarely consider the consequences.

Lastly, it tells the first half of the Christian story. What do I mean by this? If you were to read the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis you would find a story that resembles the lyrics of Brutal Planet. A grand creation – but then a horrible mess. Every newspaper, radio station and TV channel retells this story every day and every night.

Darkness and depravity; this is the first half of the story. The second half starts in Genesis 12. Out of the blue, God chooses some guy to be the beginning of something great. Soon, all this darkness will be gone and this man’s decedents will bless the nations. Through these people God will make things right again. Of course, things don’t turn out quite the way we would expect. But one of this guy’s decedents gets nailed to a cross and we’re told this is the solution. You’ll notice that the cross is mentioned in Brutal Planet. The second half of the story (you have to go elsewhere in Cooper’s lyrics to encounter it) is that God becomes a man. You can read about this in the first chapter of John’s Gospel. God becomes a man. He lives with us. Teaches us. Founds a new way to be human. Actually, the new way to be human is really just the original way. For some reason it seems nearly impossible to do what we know is right. Sometimes we don’t even seem to know what is right. God, as man, does something we could never do ourselves. He dies in order that we might receive forgiveness for our wickedness. When we choose to join his side and follow him and do things his way, he says that he makes us new creations. Some have explained this by saying that when he died for us he was able to pay the infinite debt that we owe to God because he was God. Yet he was able to represent mankind because he was man. Nobody expected this.

I decided to become a Christian a few years ago. It happened to Alice Cooper a couple years before me. Neither of us think that we are better than anybody else. We’ve just come to recognize how bad we are and how good and merciful God is.

Check out the live version of the song.

We’re spinning round on this ball of hate
There’s no parole, there’s no great escape
We’re sentenced here until the end of days
And then my brother there’s a price to pay

We’re only human, we were born to die
Without the benefit of reason why
We live for pleasure – to be satisfied
and then my brother there’s no place to hide

Why don’t you, come down to
It’s such a brutal planet
It’s such an ugly world
Why won’t you, come down to

“This world is such perfection” (What a sight)
“It’s just like paradise” (For my eyes)
“A truly grand creation” (What a sight)
“From up here it looks so nice” (For my eyes)

It’s such a brutal planet
It’s such a livid hell
It was a holy garden
That’s right where Adam fell
It’s where the bite was taken
It’s where we chose to sin
It’s where we first were naked
This is where our death begins

We took advice from that deceiving snake
He said don’t worry it’s a piece of cake
And sent us swimming in a burning lake
Now we’re abandoned here for heaven’s sake

Why don’t you, come down to
It’s such a brutal planet
It’s such an ugly world
Why don’t you, come down to

“This world is such perfection” (What a sight)
“It’s just like paradise” (For my eyes)
“A truly grand creation” (What a sight)
“From up here it looks so nice” (For my eyes)

Right here we keep the armies
Right here we write their names
Right here the money got us
Here’s the famous hall of shame
Right here we starve the hungry
Right here we cheat the poor
Right here we beat the children
This is where we pay the whores

Why don’t you, come down to
It’s such a brutal planet
It’s such an ugly world
Why won’t you, come down to

“This world is such perfection” (What a sight)
“It’s just like paradise” (For my eyes)
“A truly grand creation” (What a sight)
“From up here it looks so nice” (For my eyes)

Right here we stoned the prophets
Built idols out of mud
Right here we fed the lions
Christian flesh and Christian blood
Down here is where we hung him
Upon an ugly cross
Right here we filled the ovens
Over there the holocaust

Lyrics are from here but corrected.

What will it take to solve the worlds problems?

Did you see the news last night?

I can’t believe what they did to that guy. Actually I can’t believe the news station showed so much. It was a bit gruesome I think. But as bad as that was it’s nothing compared to what that lady did to her own kids. Or what that other girl did to her own mother. And can you believe the bill that our government passed? Did they stop and think about it for even one second? Oh, by the way, they all got raises. And did you think of the proposed solution for homelessness? Maybe it’ll work, but I’m always a little skeptical of these things. It just seems too good to be true. I mean why didn’t somebody think of it before if it is so simple?

It doesn’t matter which news station you watch or what night you watch it. It’s all the same. Every country. Every city. There’s nothing new about the news, it’s the same thing every night.

I posted some videos below. I imagine some of you share the same tastes as I do so you might appreciate the styles of music. The first video is just a recap of last nights news. Except it’s a little more personal. They’re not trying to keep their audience and their advertising sponsors happy so it just sounds a little less rehearsed and a little more personal.

The second video actually proposes a solution. So does the third. Google the lyrics if you need to.

Rancid – As Wicked

Bad Religion – Sorrow

Mat Redman – Nothing But the Blood

I don’t really have to explain to you that the world is in a mess. You’ve seen the mess. We’re all a part of it. There are a lot of good times for sure. But they never last, do they? Something always comes along and throws a wrench into things. Fights and death are the big killers. At the end of the day many people are left with nothing but sorrow.

But what would the world be like without sorrow? I’m not asking what it would be like to have no emotions. I’m asking what it would be like if there was sorrow no more. What would it take to rid the world of the wickedness that leads to sorrow?

Bad Religion has us imagining a world with no more sorrow. What are the conditions to such a place? Soldiers lay their weapons down, kings and queens relinquish their crowns, the only true messiah rescues us – from ourselves. They say it’s easy to imagine. Well, maybe. Bad Religion diagnosed the problem quite well I think.

The problem is us. The weapons are ours. It is us who hold the crowns. We’ll never let go; will we? I don’t think humanity is hopeless. I just think the solution is not going to come from ourselves. We are wicked and we need saving from ourselves. I don’t know who Bad Religion thinks that the true Messiah is but I’m pretty sure I do.

Jesus; He’s the true Messiah that rescues us from ourselves.

I’m taking a course at the university that I go to, and it’s all about a letter that was written a few years after Jesus spent his time on earth. It’s written by Paul the Apostle. It is the letter to the Ephesians. I’ll be spending well more than 100 hours studying that letter. It’s only a few pages long but it is so profound that I could spend the rest of my life studying it, considering it, living it.

There are a couple of themes that keep recurring in it. One of them is peace. However, according to Paul, peace can only come through Jesus. Not through a government institution, not through ‘just getting along.’ It comes from the first person to every really be what humans are supposed to be. Jesus. Through Jesus humans are reconciled to God and to each other.

May I suggest that you take this into consideration?

By the way, Jesus is a King and Paul calls us to take up our weapons. It is not by laying down our weapons, rather it is by picking up the right ones that our sorrow will be dealt with. It is not by all kings and queens laying down their crowns, rather it is by the true King being crowned that our sorrow will be dealt with.

The true Messiah rescues us from ourselves.

Stop to Wonder Why.

I like to think about stuff and listen to music. You probably figured that out from the name of this blog. Sometimes I just like to think about life in general, nothing too specific. I posted a couple of songs below that I have been listening to for the last few years/months. If I’m not mistaken they have completely different outlooks on life. They have some ideas in common but they are also quite different. It is very easy to misunderstand what somebody has written – especially when it is music or poetry, so as I talk about these songs keep in mind that I could easily be wrong. Nevertheless, they did get me thinking and maybe they’ll get you thinking too.

Life

These two songs are about life. You’ll notice that both songs reflect on the past and look to the future. Both songs admit yesterday’s mistakes. Both of them talk about the passage of time and how difficult things can be.

The song by MXPX seems much more reflective though. The singer asks Do you ever stop to wonder why? He seeks understanding. Many people cry you don’t understand me! This writer suggests that he doesn’t understand himself. Not only the world is confusing to us but we are confusing to ourselves!

The song by The Offspring isn’t nearly as reflective. I suppose it is in it’s own way. The singer proclaims that The past is over but tomorrow‘s wishful thinking. This in itself reveals something of the thought behind the song. Now we must move ahead. Despite our fear and dread. We‘re all just wishing we could stop. There is really no hope in this song is there? There doesn’t really seem to be any desire to understand like the first song.

So What?

I think the bottom line is that these songs are born out of two different worldviews. Notice that MXPX mention God. They don’t just mention God, they also mention his faithfulness. This is an important theme for Christians. Many of the Psalms (songs and poems in the Bible) talk about God’s faithfulness. He is faithful even when we are not.

But The Offspring don’t seem to come from that point of view. They see things differently. If Christianity is true then I think it is safe to say that The Offspring are not seeing things correctly. Of course, if Christianity is not true then MXPX are not seeing things properly.

Wow, who ever thought a couple punk rock songs could get you thinking about the nature of reality and the meaning of life? I’ve posted the lyrics and the videos so that you can reflect on them for yourself. I have many more thoughts whirling around but then you’d just get bored of reading!

Tomorrow is Another Day – by MXPX

I don’t want to let my life fly by
Do you ever stop, stop to wonder why?

And time flies by
When everything is ok
It just turns out that life ain’t that way
Big decisions overwhelm me and I know
nothing’s free

When I don’t think of, think about much
People die and we don’t know why
I could use some understanding
Human contact, sign that contract

I don’t want to let my life fly by
Did you ever stop to wonder why-ever stop to
wonder, wonder why?

And time stands still when no one understands you
When you don’t quite understand yourself
But just know this that God is faithful
Even if you don’t have faith yourself

There’s nothing quite like being sure of
What’s inside your heart
It’s mostly simple but not so easy
To know just where to start

Today didn’t have to be this way
Tomorrow is another day
Another chance to make things right
A chance to make sense of last night

A chance to fully live your life
I don’t want to, I don’t want to, you don’t want to

Can’t Repeat – by The Offspring

Can’t Repeat

I woke the other day
And saw my world has changed
The past is over but tomorrow‘s wishful thinking
I can‘t hold onto what‘s been done
I can‘t grab onto what‘s to come
And I‘m just wishing I could stop, but

Life goes on
Come of age
Can‘t hold on
Turn the page

Time rolls on
Wipe these eyes
Yesterday laughs
Tomorrow cries

Memories are bittersweet
The good times we can‘t repeat
Those days are gone and we can never get them back
Now we must move ahead
Despite our fear and dread
We‘re all just wishing we could stop, but

Life goes on
Come of age
Can‘t hold on
Turn the page

Time rolls on
Wipe your eyes
Yesterday laughs
Tomorrow cries

With all our joys and fears
Wrapped in forgotten years
The past is laughing as today just slips away
Time tears down what we’ve made
And sets another stage
And I‘m just wishing we could stop

Life goes on
Come of age
Can‘t hold on
Turn the page

Time rolls on
Wipe these eyes
Yesterday laughs
Tomorrow cries

Seinfeld and Death…

Seinfeld is one of my favorite TV shows. Most people seem to enjoy it. Every once in a while the writers seem to work something really deep into an episode. I posted a portion of script below from the episode called The Pony Remark (I recently posted all three parts of the episode in video form too). The bold part of the script is a gem and its wedged discretely between a conversation about casual sex and a baseball game (in true Seinfeld fashion of course)! It’s a conversation about death. The awkward topic of human mortality. I almost guarantee you’ve found yourself at a funeral thinking the same thing.

Apathy

I’m pretty sure that most of us ought to take our lives a little more seriously than we do, and hopefully this Seinfeld clip will get you reflecting on that. But like most people you’ll find yourself thinking the same thing at the next funeral… and the next. Never really changing. Well except now you’ll be thinking about Seinfeld too!

You’ll likely notice that after time it’ll get easier and easier to push away that nagging feeling that you ought to change. At first you’ll panic like Elaine. Then you’ll slide into the easy chair of apathy. Who knows you might even adopt a twist of Jerry’s gentle sarcasm. The show is hilarious and hopefully it gets you thinking… maybe even doing?

See the five minute mark in video number two for this part of the script.

[Setting: Coffee Shop]

ELAINE: I actually like ponies. I was just trying to make conversation. What time’s your game?

JERRY: Two Forty-Five.

ELAINE: And what time’s the funeral?

JERRY: Two o’ clock.

ELAINE: How long does a funeral take?

JERRY: Depends on how nice the person was. But you gotta figure, even Oswald took forty-five minutes.

ELAINE: So you can’t do both?

JERRY: You know, if the situation were reversed and Manya had some mah-jongg championship or something, I wouldn’t expect her to go to my funeral. I would understand.

ELAINE: How can you even consider not going?

GEORGE: You know, I’ve been thinking. I cannot envision any circumstances in which I’ll ever have the opportunity to have sex again. How’s it gonna happen? I just don’t see how it could occur.

ELAINE: You know, funerals always make me think about my own mortality and how I’m actually going to die someday. Me, dead. Imagine that.

GEORGE: They always make me take stock of my life and how I’ve pretty much wasted all of it, and how I plan to continue wasting it.

JERRY: I know, and then you say to yourself, “From this moment on, I’m not going to waste any more of it.” But then you go, “How? What can I do that’s not wasting it?”

ELAINE: Is this a waste of time? What should we be doing? Can’t you have coffee with people?

GEORGE: You know, I can’t believe you’re even considering not playing. We need you. You’re hitting everything.

ELAINE: He has to go. He may have killed her.

JERRY: Me? What about you? You brought up the pony.

ELAINE: Oh, yeah, but I didn’t say I hated anyone who had one.

GEORGE: (To Jerry) Who’s going to play left field?

JERRY: Bender.

GEORGE: Bender? He can’t play left. He stinks. I just don’t see what purpose is it going to serve your going? I mean, you think dead people care who’s at the funeral? They don’t even know they’re having a funeral. It’s not like she’s hanging out in the back going, “I can’t believe Jerry didn’t show up.”

ELAINE: Maybe she’s there in spirit. How about that?

GEORGE: If you’re a spirit, and you can travel to other dimensions and galaxies, and find out the mysteries of the universe, you think she’s going to want to hang around Drexler’s funeral home on Ocean Parkway?

ELAINE: George, I met this woman! She is not traveling to any other dimensions.

GEORGE: You know how easy it is for dead people to travel? It’s not like getting on a bus. One second. It’s all mental.

JERRY: Fifty years they were married. Now he’s moving to Phoenix.

ELAINE: Phoenix? What’s happening with his apartment?

JERRY: I don’t know. They’ve been in there since, like, World War II. The rent’s three hundred a month.

ELAINE: Three hundred a month? Oh my God.

(Scene ends)

Script from – www.seinfeldscripts.com/ThePonyRemark.htm

The Death of Death.

Poetry used to freak me out. And it pretty much still does. I just don’t get it. I have had some really good professors that have helped me understand a few poems. Now I’ve got a lot more appreciation for poetry! I have stumbled across a few poems that I really like. They just have a way of taking topics that I already know about and describing them in interesting ways.

Death is something I’ve thought about a bit… ok quite a bit!

John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10 is an awesome poem about death. I’ve posted the text below and also a video of somebody reading the poem. The reading is a little freaky but he does a better job than I could!

Check out the lyrics and think about them a bit.

Holy Sonnet 10

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,

Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go,

Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,

And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well

And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

 

Poem from www.poetryfoundation.org

I love this poem so much because I think it basically captures the Christian idea about death. John Donne was a Christian and so it’s no surprise that this poem reflects the ideas that it does. The odd thing is that Christians don’t always seem to think about death as Donne does.

Notice how Donne personalizes death. He talks to death as if it can actually hear him. It’s not that death is really a person, it just makes for a more interesting way to talk about it; or talk to it. I think Donne has a healthy view of death. The poem opens with him rebuking death. People are so afraid of death. Should death be proud? Is it a powerful enemy? Some have called it mighty and dreadful but that isn’t true. When death strikes it thinks that it has killed somebody. But according to Donne, it isn’t so.

How can Donne think this? Why aren’t dead people dead? Because though their bodies have died they still live on. Their souls have survived deaths ‘mighty’ blow. Of course Donne has a very Christian view of death. People don’t just disappear when they die. Dead Christians have hope beyond the grave.

Death is a slave. Isn’t that great? I love that line – Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men. Death has no real power of it’s own. It relies on chance and wars and murders to get the job done. In a sense it relies on the very people that it wants to kill to do the killing. Pathetic!

I find all this exciting to think about but it’s the last two lines that give me the chills.

One short sleep past, we wake eternally

And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

For Christians death is but mere ’sleep.’ When we wake eternally there’ll be no more death. But how is this so? Because death will be dead. The death of death; that is like ultimate death.

Christians are quite confident about all this. We will wake eternally. Death will die. How could all this be true? How can it possibly be? The early Christian writings (the New Testament of the Bible) say that the death that Jesus died on the cross was actually a victory. A Victory!? Yeah, a Victory. Don’t get me wrong though. The early Christians weren’t creative enough to think this up on their own. When Jesus had been buried they thought that he was good as dead. He and all his followers were Jews so they had some sort of expectation of life after death but they didn’t expect what actually happened.

Jesus came back from the dead. Body and all! He made it clear (and the church has always thought) that though he was killed he actually won a victory for us. He overcame death and it’s power over us. Check out the gospel of John for an account of Jesus’ life and death… and life.

Here is a video of somebody reading Holy Sonnet 10.

Below are a few interesting quotes from Jesus’ friends.

• “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’” (From 1 Corinthians 15 Written by Paul who met Jesus after Jesus had been raised from the dead)