Stupid Batteries.

Let me recount a couple of events to you.

A few months ago I was downtown Toronto with a friend. We were in a part of town that was unfamiliar to me. The streets were narrow and the buildings towered above us on either side. How tall they were I cannot really say because we were so close to them that we could not see the tops. The sky was barely visible to us and shadows cast by the massive buildings covered almost everything. But suddenly we broke into a clearing and found ourselves in a massive concrete courtyard of sorts. Now we could see the buildings. They were massive; too many stories to count. They were all made of glass and their innards could be seen by all who passed by. As far as I could tell all the buildings housed banks and other financial institutions. I cannot even begin to guess how much this city block is worth or how much many pours in to those buildings every year. In some ways it felt like we passed through a great valley. In other ways it was a very creepy feeling. It was as if we entered a world in which nothing mattered except little pieces of paper and little round pieces of metal.

Well, that’s the first event. The second event happened just a day or two ago. I was sitting on the couch eating breakfast and watching T.V. A show ended and on came a World Vision program. The images of starving children were disturbing (come on I’m trying to eat), but I watched just long enough to remind myself that deep down inside I’m a really good person and it’s not my fault that they’re starving. You don’t even have to look very deep to see the good in me. Just look at the world around me. Life is pretty good. Anyway, then I picked up the remote to change the channel and for the first time in my life (and at a very critical moment I might add) the remote control failed me. Dead batteries. How could this have happened to me? I’m trying to eat my three course breakfast, the images of starving kids are making me feel guilty and my batteries die. Talk about bad timing. So there I was, siting on the couch with the T.V. more than three feet away (that’s like from you to the monitor and back). I sat there in a little bit of shock, just looking at the TV. Staring back at me were little kids and their moms who needed something to eat. And I got to thinking; what the hell is wrong with us? Seriously, what the hell? How could I just sit there?

What kind of human being can sit on his couch watching this stuff, too lazy to get up and change the channel? So I thought to myself, from this moment on I’m going to change. No more sitting back and doing nothing. I’m getting up, I’m defying laziness, I’m changing the channel. I will not let Laziness overcome me any more. For too long Sloth has been my friend. If I must get off the couch to change the channel then so be it. How dare I sit back and do nothing while bankers and lawyers work their butts off to build their financial empires? How dare I sit on my couch sweating and consuming while they work so hard to guide the world from their towers and perches that reach into the sky?

I will do something with my life. I will invest my money. I will make haste to multiply my fortunes. I will help the poor bankers one brick, yea, one pane of glass at a time. I will insure everything I own. I will even insure my insurance if I can. Gone are the days of doing nothing. I swear allegiance to loose change. For the price of a cup of coffee a day, at a compounded annual interest rate of two percent over prime, I will succeed. My life will have value. So will yours my friend.

Now to find some cheap batteries.

Born Frustrated – by Rancid

Noxious Culture

Virtue, Character and Culture

I was listening to Os Guinness this morning. He was talking about truth and if you are interested you can find his talk here. He made an interesting comment a little more than half way through. He said that the world of culture is where the virtues are formed and character is shaped.

The statement isn’t all that controversial and assuming it’s true then I think we have some problems. I don’t hear people talk about virtue or character much. I’m pretty sure that the concept of virtue is largely ignored today for various reasons. The only place that I ever hear about virtue is in philosophy class. Surprisingly, I think the only time that I hear Christians talk about virtue is when they are bashing it. I don’t know why this is the case. It seems that many Christians are so convinced that salvation does not come by doing good things that they scoff when they hear somebody telling them to be virtuous. Being virtuous is thought to be being self righteous or holier-than-thou I suppose. The only Christians who talk seriously about virtue seem to be philosophers.

I do hear people talk about character. The problem is that talk often comes too late. When should we talk about the character of a political candidate? We should talk about their character before it comes time to vote. Unfortunately, we often wait until they are involved in some sort of scandal. Then we talk about their character, but by then it’s too late to make a difference. Of course, that’s the beauty of democracy. What is great about democracy is not that everybody gets a vote. The beauty of democracy is that it gives us the ability to keep corrupt people in check. When a politician proves that they have bad motives we vote in a new one in. Evil tyrants don’t last long in a democracy.

If virtues are formed and character is shaped in culture then it seems that by understanding our culture you can predict the formation and shape that virtue and character will take.

Let me finish with a point or two to ponder. Our culture is drifting away from the concept of truth. The idea that there is something true out there whether we believe it or not. It’s true even if we don’t know about it and it’s true even if we don’t like it. This has been replaced by the idea that everybody has their own truth. You have your truth and I have mine. Even when our truths blatantly contradict each other we still insist that they are both true for us. If we don’t hold to the idea that there is truth independent of our own “truth” then we are going to find ourselves in big trouble.

The second point is that our culture is obsessed with commercialism and consumerism. We buy stuff like it’s going out of style. Don’t get me wrong, buying stuff is fine. However, when our lives are consumed with buying stuff and this stuff is what brings us joy in life then we’ve got problems. Have you ever stopped to think about the people that have to slave away in factories to make that junk? Have you ever thought of the garbage collectors that have to haul your junk away when you get sick of it? And think about the poor archaeologists who are going to have to sift through all this crap some day.

Truthless, consumer culture; this is where virtue is being formed and character is being shaped.

I leave you with a song by Rancid called Born Frustrated. It’s about culture, enjoy.

Why Isn’t Marriage Exciting?

So, a few weeks back I posted some things about marriage that I learned from one of my favorite philosopher/theologians. That post is now getting more hits than my two top posts combined. This really surprised me because this blog is supposed to be about philosophy, music and Jesus. But perhaps we should be thinking a little deeper about marriage too.

My wife and I were engaged for a few months before our wedding. During that time we got a lot of advice from people. Several people warned us that once we got married the fun would be over and we would get bored of each other. However, other people gave us advice about how to keep our relationship exciting.

I think the best piece of advice we got in this area was to just actually get excited about each other. Excitement isn’t something that just happens to you, it is something that you choose to do. So, this person suggested that every once in a while I just stop and look at Naomi and say “Wow, I can’t believe I’m married to you!”

It’ll take a conscious effort not to get bored of your marriage. But doesn’t everything in life take effort? Things don’t just happen, so be as dramatic as you need to be, and every once in a while just tell your husband or wife how excited you are about them. Marriage doesn’t have to be boring if you don’t want it to be.

The video I posted is by a band called Rancid. The song is Who Would’ve Thought.

I can’t believe I’m married to you Naomi!

Unity

When I was a teenager I was interested in finding out what life was all about. I loved listening to people debate important topics. I found that it helped me to make a decision on the issue. As I look back and reflect on those years I think I was looking for two things. I wanted a way of life that was first of all true, but also livable or satisfying. I didn’t just want to adopt any old religion or philosophy, rather I wanted one that was actually true. And I hoped that whichever way of life turned out to be true would also be a good and worthwhile life to live.

From a young age I suspected that Christianity was true. God really did exist and Jesus really did die for my sins (there is a lot more to Christianity than this of course). The problem was that Christianity did not seem to be an enjoyable lifestyle. As a teenager I was quite attracted to the punk lifestyle. Oddly enough, I discovered that much of what I heard coming from punk bands lined up well with many of the teachings of Christianity. The great part was that I loved the punk lifestyle. So it looked like I could have both truth and a satisfying lifestyle.

Of course, punk rock doesn’t really have a lot to say about the ultimate things in life. What happens when we die? What does God expect from me, if anything? What should a human being really do with their life? In the world of punk rock the answers to these questions are as diverse as the colour of people’s hair.

In the end, Christianity satisfied my quest for truth. After a year or so of being a Christian I also realized that it had satisfied my quest for an enjoyable lifestyle. Sure, I had to make some changes but they have been for the better. I am quite convinced that Christianity is both true and livable.

One topic that seems to be important to both punks and Christians (of course many punks are Christians and many Christians are punks) is unity. I just spent a semester at school studying a letter that Christians have passed on to each other for the last couple thousand years. It is a letter from Paul to the Ephesians. You’ll find it as part of the collection of writings called the New Testament. Unity is a pretty important theme in this letter. But unity is not just necessary between fellow humans, but between humans and God. I think that Christians need to work on being better united, but that’s an issue for later.

Unity is also the theme of many punk songs. I’ve posted a couple of them below. Rancid and Operation Ivy are a couple of my favorite punk rock bands. As a Christian, some of their songs still inspire me.

Rancid – If the Kids are United

Operation Ivy – Unity

Cool Kids and Inner Rings

As of Friday I’ll be finished all my classes for this semester. I took a literature class and read a few books by C.S. Lewis. My professor recommended an essay by Lewis and I thought I’d share some of it with you.

The essay by Lewis is called The Inner Ring. We all know what an inner ring is. It’s the cool kids. Those little groups that you find everywhere you go. You’ll find them mostly at school and at work but you’ll find them other places as well. There is no formal organization and if you manage to get into one of these rings you’ll notice that it was no particular person that let you in, somehow the group consented. The rules are unwritten and understood.

Lewis says that it is one of our main desires in life to be inside the inner ring – and a terrifying thought to realize that you have been left out. These rings are not necessarily bad things in and of themselves. However, our desire to be in them might not be all that healthy. He gives a couple main reasons why we ought to get over our desire to be in these inner rings – to be in with the cool kids.

The passion to be in these inner rings can turn a person who isn’t really all that bad into a person who does very bad things. We find this at every level really. People sleep around to get in. They’ll lie and spread rumours about people. Some will even kill to get in.

Lewis also argues that in the end our desire to get in leads to nothing. The novelty of being in wears off very quickly. Once we’ve ditched our old friends to join the cool club, we find out that the cool kids aren’t so great after all. The excitement of being in does not last and next thing you know we are looking for the next ring.

Lewis suggests a couple ways to live life. You can commit yourself to your work and your studies and your hobbies and forget about the rings. It is not an easy thing to do, but even those people in the rings will know that you’ve surpassed them. You can also try real friendship.

It’s really quite a great essay and you ought to check it out. I’ve barley summed it up.

C.S. Lewis – The Inner Ring.

I’ve posted a couple songs that fit quite well with the essay. One is by Screeching Weasel and it’s called Cool Kids. The other is by Rancid and it is called Unwritten Rules.

Cool Kids is about the inner ring. Unwritten Rules seems to be somewhere in the middle. They use the language of inner rings and yet they seem to be suggesting that they aren’t really in a ring, they are just doing what they love. We need to consider that it is possible to form a ring of those who are outsiders of the other rings. But this is just a new inner ring and is no better than the first.

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.

Friendship

I’m not good at expressing myself so when I stumbled across this video I was pretty happy. I think the greatest friend I’ve ever had is my wife. I met her at one of the lowest points of my life. All kinds of crappy stuff was happening and we just happened to become friends… then we got married! Friendship has come to mean a lot to me since then. I’ve always loved my friends but I just look at the whole thing differently now. I think friends used to just be about having somebody fun to hang out with. Now it’s something more. I’ve seen how friends have stood by my wife and I when we’ve had tough things to go through and we’ve stood by others too.

Even one of ancient Israel’s greatest kings knew the value of good friendship. Check out what he wrote like 3000 years ago: “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.” From Ecclesiastes chapter 4.