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.

Broken

Humanity will never heal itself.

Whenever my wife and I go back home I always find a copy of the local newspaper and flip to the opinion page. Every few months a letter is submitted by a guy who is a secular humanist. He wants people to consider why they should accept his sort of humanism. He recognizes that there is something very wrong with the way that humanity is right now. War, disease, greed, corruption; all that stuff.

How can humanism help? He argues that people need to turn away from religion and instead turn to science, reason and progress. Through science and human thinking we can begin to get past all the crappy stuff in life. Human nature can become something good. Human achievement through science and reason will give us progress beyond the crappy state of life that most people are doomed with. We’ve had religion for thousands of years and it has done nothing but bring us down.

Well, this sounds like an attractive offer doesn’t it? Imagine; no more war, no more confusion and no more demands from religion on our lives. If we just put our heads together it can all be ours. In short, I think he is wrong. I do not think that humanity can heal itself. Why? Well, let me just say first that I think science and reason are good things. Actually, I think they are more neutral than anything. What I mean is that they are like tools that we use as we live our lives. So, as human beings live their lives they use their reason and their scientific achievements to do things.

Unless they are held against their will, humans seem to do what they want; they try to fulfill their desires.

This is why science and reason can never really heal us. Science and reason are things that we use to fulfill our desires. Through our reason, we try to solve the mysteries of the universe. We try to solve problems. On the other hand, we also use our reason to calculate the best way to rob banks, commit murders, win wars, plunder villages and rape women.

We use science to find cures for diseases, build helpful machines and transport food to starving villages. Of course, we also use science to build nuclear bombs, torture people and construct Nazi empires.

Do you see what I am getting at? Human beings use things like science and reason to get what they want. So, if the person has bad desires then they will use the tools for bad things. If the human has good desires then they will use the tools for good things. A hammer can be used to build a house our bludgeon a neighbour.

I wish the guy who keeps writing these ideas would stop and think about it a bit.

If not science and religion then what?

Religion has not solved humanity’s problems. In some ways it has just given us one more thing to fight about. It’s had several thousand years, I think it is time to move beyond religion.

Science has had a couple hundred really good years. We’ve made a lot of ‘progress.’ But science has just given us one more tool to wipe each other out with.

Like I said, I think science is a good thing. It just can’t solve our problems. Might I suggest that we’ll find a solution in Jesus? I know, I said let’s get rid of religion but then I went and brought Jesus into the picture! Well, I don’t think that Jesus is mere religion. Sure, generally speaking, Christianity is a religion. It’s one of the world’s largest religions. But most Christians will say that it is not merely a religion. It is not just another one of the choices to fill that hole in our lives. Jesus talked a lot about the problems of humanity. Ultimately, he said that the solution can be found in him and nowhere else.

So, the solution is not found in the pursuit of science and it is not found in the mere association with a religious organization. It’s found in a first century prophet/savior named Jesus. The best place to learn about Jesus is in the four books and many letters that were written by his followers in the first century. The Gospel of John is a good place to start. Many of these writers knew Jesus personally. Most of them gave their lives in horrible ways so that his message could be passed on.

Give it some thought.

This song is called Broken by a band called 12 Stones…

…and this one is called Broken too, it’s by Pennywise

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.

The King of Queens Teaches Valuable Lesson About God!

I love sitcoms. Just the good ones though! I don’t have cable, so I’m limited in what shows I can watch. Lately I’ve come to like King of Queens. I came across a great conversation between Doug and a Rabbi in a recent episode. It’s about religion.

The three most popular monotheist religions are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These three religions all have something in common. They all claim to have roots in Abraham. Abraham is a guy that we first meet in the book called Genesis (it’s in the Old Testament in the Bible). Generally speaking Jews and Christians both agree on who Abraham was and why he was important. Abraham was on a mission from God and the mission was continued through his son Isaac. This is where the Muslims disagree. They say that the mission was continued through his other son, Ishmael. Now, to the average Joe this argument seems pointless. Who cares!? Don’t these religions all worship the same God? Why can’t we just overlook the differences and simplify things a bit? Why not just admit that we all worship the same God? Is it true that right now we have three separate monotheist religions that all worship the same God and just disagree about a few details?

The Devil is in the Details

Well some people don’t think that these three religions worship the same God. I think that there are many Jews, Christians and Muslims that think we all worship the same God. But each religion thinks that it is the one that God favours. I disagree. I think that we all worship different gods. This is a pretty controversial statement. But there is one detail that Judaism and Islam reject. This little detail at least separates Christianity from the other two monotheisms.

Surprisingly, Doug (the not-so-bright star of King of Queens) understands the distinction between Christianity and its rivals. Why don’t you take a look at the script and then I’ll explain the important distinction. I transcribed it myself and other than punctuation it should be accurate.

Transcript from episode 206 (or was it 207?!)

Setting: In a car on the way to Arthur’s wedding. Deacon is driving. Doug and a Rabbi are in the back seat.

Doug – I can’t believe you aren’t the one getting divorced.

Deacon – Hey stop talking about divorce will you, you guys are gonna be fine. You always work these things out. She screams, you cry, two pizzas later you’re back to normal.

Doug – This is different Deac, Okay? We had a commitment about our future and she just didn’t hold up her end. That’s not right, is it?

Rabbi Feldman– Well I certainly understand why you’re upset, but I also know that God believes in forgiveness.

Doug – Yeah. Is that just your God, or any God?

Rabbi Feldman– Do you think you and I have different Gods?

Doug – No! No, no, no, no… oh, I mean, yeah. Only cause my God is… Jesus. But, uh. But from what I understand my God is the Son of your God. So, I’m sure they’re on very good terms. They probably see each other all the time. You know holidays, family functions.

Car screeches to a halt and Doug rams into the seat in front of him.

Doug – Hey! What the hell was that for?

Deacon – To shut you up.

The Difference Doug Makes

This bit between Doug and Rabbi Feldman is supposed to be funny. Those of you who are familiar with King of Queens probably read it with the appropriate tone of voice. Even though it’s funny it is also true. As Christians, we do worship different gods… because our God is Jesus.

Doug mentions that Jesus is the Son of the Jewish God. This is true. Although, we should not think of this in the traditional child-bearing sense. The Father/Son language is used more as a metaphor to explain the tight-knit and shared nature of Jesus and the Father. Jesus made it clear to his fellow Jews (yes that’s right, Jesus was a Jew not an American Evangelical!) that if they did not follow him then they were rejecting the Father. Well, let’s let Jesus speak for himself.

“he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Luke 10:16

“”Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”" John 14:5-7

Fashionably Late

It’s a Boy!

Every once in a while it hits me. I exist. I actually exist. I could just as easily have never existed, but I do. I know it sounds kinda stupid but I really appreciate existing. I like to try and think about what the world would be like without me. It’s kinda tough though because as long as I’m here thinking, I’m not not here thinking, which is what I’d be doing if I wasn’t here thinking about not being here. You follow me?

Isn’t it awesome that we exist? I mean, think about it. You could not exist but you do. Our existence isn’t necessary and yet here we are. I often wonder what it would be like to go out of existence. Yet again it’s difficult to think about because you can’t really imagine not existing. I mean, you can try but a non-existing person cannot think or imagine so whatever you think it would be like to not exist isn’t actually what it would be like because non-existence has no what it would be like-ness. See what I mean? You have to be in order to be like.

Better Late Than Never

Unfortunately, I started existing pretty late in the grand scheme of things. I missed the founding of all the great empires. I missed out on the flood (actually that’s probably a good thing!). I missed the discovery of my “home and native land.” There are quite a number of impressive astronomical events that have come and gone and won’t be happening again for the next million years. But all in all, I’m still happy that I exist.

Late, Yes. But Fashionably Late!

Actually it turns out that quite a number of people looked ahead to my time (give or take a few centuries) and waited in anticipation for it. Who? The Prophets from the BC era.

In 1 Peter 1:10-12 Peter says – “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”

So I guess maybe I was born in a good era.

Fans of MXPX can check out the video below for the song called Late Again. It’s actually performed by Mike’s side project band called Tumbledown.

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You gotta have faith.

When I first became a Christian I adopted many weird ideas. Thankfully, I’ve found some good teachers along the way that have set me straight. Faith is one of the things that I was confused about. Is faith supposed to be blind? Is it a sign of ignorance? Well, I don’t think so and I’ll give you some reasons why. I did some googling and posted a few quotes and cliches about faith, give them a look over.

You just have to have faith.

You just have to believe.

Faith is believing what you can’t see.

Close your eyes… and take a leap of faith.

Everyone has faith, they just may not realize it.

Faith is blind and deceptive, it’s a poison.

Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.

‘Faith’ means not wanting to know what is true.

“Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.”

“The way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason.”

What is Faith?

Are these cliches really accurate descriptions of what faith is? This is what the word has come to mean in our time. However, this is not the sort of faith that Christians are supposed to have. This is not the sort of faith that Jesus commands us to have. One of the good teachers that I have found is Greg Koukl. He is from an organization called Stand to Reason. He helped me to understand what faith really is. Check out this short video below. I think you’ll find it worth while… trust me.

The Animal Kingdom

The video below is by a band called Three Days Grace. The song is called Animal I Have Become.

I discovered it by accident last summer. I was watching TV on mute with the captions on. I caught a few words of the song and thought you’ve got to be kidding! As far as I know the guys in the band aren’t Christian, (maybe I’m wrong) but the song is really all about what Christians think of as our fallen (or depraved) human nature. Christians are often perceived as idiots who know nothing about life or human nature. Rock bands are often perceived the same way. Christians are also often perceived as wanting to control peoples minds. So are rock bands. Perhaps this is true in some cases (though as somebody who is a Christian and loves rock music I doubt either of them). But as you’ll read/hear in a minute I think they both have something very interesting and true to say about human nature.

Based on an article I read last summer, this song is about the singers battle with the ‘rock and roll lifestyle.’ You know; sex, partying and whatnot. He was completely out of control, as the lyrics suggest. Turns out that his self-diagnoses is exactly what Christians have been discovering about themselves ever since Jesus and his friends started teaching.

Here are a couple passages from the New Testament scriptures. Check them out and keep them in mind as you listen to the song posted below. Fallow along with the lyrics if need be.

• Romans 7:18-35

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” Click here to read the whole chapter

• Romans 6:1-10

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Click here for the whole chapter

Solution?

Notice of course that the song doesn’t really offer a solution. He’s desperate for one though. Christians think that Jesus offers a solution. He didn’t just tell us about our problem, he himself offered a solution.

Animal I Have Become Lyrics

I can’t escape this hell,
So many times I’ve tried,
But I’m still caged inside,
Somebody get me through this nightmare,
I can’t control myself

So what if you can see,
The darkest side of me,
No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe,
It’s not the real me,
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal.)

I can’t escape myself,
So many times I’ve lied,
But there’s still rage inside.
Somebody get me through this nightmare,
I can’t control myself

So what if you can see,
The darkest side of me,
No one will ever change this animal I have become

Help me believe,
It’s not the real me,
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become

Help me believe
It’s not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal!

Somebody help me through this nightmare,
I can’t control myself
Somebody wake me from this nightmare,
I can’t escape this hell
(This Animal! x7)

So what if you can see,
The darkest side of me,
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe,
It’s not the real me,
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe,
It’s not the real me,
Somebody help me tame this animal
This animal I have become

Lyrics from http://www.metrolyrics.com

Jesus

Jesus is likely the most famous guy in history. Though Christians are the official followers of Jesus all the major religions seem to recognize him as somebody important. Even non-religious people like him. If you know a bit about Jesus then you’ll love this video. If you know nothing about him check it out anyway… I’m sure you’ll find something interesting.

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)