Music

You know when you ask someone the ever-important, getting to know them, question of "so, like what kind of music do you, uh, like?" And then they respond with, "well, I like everything." For me, this tells me one thing - we aren't gonna be close friends. Well, that's not necessarily true - it means that the odds of us being close friends are slim to none. Or, about one in a million...not bad odds some may say. The reason why these odds are so dismal? You may ask...well friends, the odds are so catastrophically small because when someone responds the question of what kind of music they like with, "everything," it means they don't actually like it. In fact, it probably means they just like to party. This individual's life would be fine without the existence of music. There are exceptions to this rule, yes. Very very few, but there are some out there. I'm fairly certain anyways...
I recently had a discussion with someone I run into around town from time to time. We met on the opposite side of the country through a bizarre sequence of events known, primarily, as "life." It goes by other names and aliases to protect it's identity but we all know whats under the cape. Anyways, somehow we began discussing how we both went to Christian Colleges and that because of this fact she now despises "Christian culture" and no longer believes Christianity is legitimate. We disagreed on a few points here and there throughout the convo...I empathized with many of her disappointments and being generally disillusioned by religion in general. The main thing we connected with though, bringing us back to the beginning of this entry, was music. The odds are supposed to be high we are gonna be friends right? She showed me one of her favorite songs by "Fink," the name of the track was "Blueberry Pancakes." One of the lines the singer utters are the words, "The Beauty of what was, isn't what won't be..." Strange sounding at first, eh? Ironically, this girl used to be a Christian. Moreover, people used to live in complete harmony with God. "The beauty of what was, isn't what won't be..." Essentially, what was could, and will, "be" once more.

Reason

I recently read an article on Burnside Writers Collective talking about Faith and Reason. Essentially, it is saying that the word "religion" doesnt mean much anymore because anyone can attribute their actions, or lack of actions, to their religion they subscribe to. It is the trump card, you cannot argue with someone if "their religion is okay with it." it is this culture of relative belief that allows everyone to make up what they think sounds good, believe it, and call it religion. It is so sad really. it makes sense that it has come to this point, but it is sad. In the article the author goes on to talk about how this girl put her virginity on ebay, selling it to the highest bidder and saying it is okay because it is not against HER religion. This whole issue of religious affiliation is no longer a crux for an argument. The convoluted cosmos that has become this word no longer allows for any platforms to exist from which to make points. Our culture, however, relies on reason now more than anything. Well, at least more then the ever-ubiquitous "religion," whatever that means anymore. The faith systems we used to call religion have been converted into different kinds of faith systems. I won't get into what those have become in my opinion because I am not versed enough in the broad array of everything out there right now. I will, however, say that our faith systems are now formed from within ourselves, from looking inward, then searching discovering, and pursuing answers externally. If it feels right, or if you don't feel wrong, then it must be Ok. I believe it is and believing it makes it true, right?
I heard a girl talking tonight about how someone asked her at work, after they found out she was a Christian, if she thought they were going to Hell. A man was sitting at a restaurant, overheard that his waitress was a Christian and his first question is, "Do you think I am going to Hell?" Not "how are you?" Not even "Why are you a Christian?" How many steps does that question skip and how presumptuous is it to jump to that point? At that point is this question a genuine question or a means of attack? I would venture to say the latter. It is interesting that in todays world one must have a million and one reasons to believe in God, but to say God does not exist doesn't require the same amount of reasons, the same amount of thought. It seems that it is acceptable to say he isn't there. It is as if Atheists and Agnostics are saying: "You have to have reasons why you believe, but I don't have to have reasons why I don't." I am being slightly facetious when I say that, but for the most part it is true - that Christians are under a higher scrutiny than anyone. Why is that? Why is the Cross so offensive? Is it really more offensive than other religious faith systems?
It is too bad that people can't meet Jesus before they meet Christians.

Turkey Day Festivities

C.S. Lewis once wrote that, "Thanksgiving is the day that we are committing selfishness, about to commit it, or repenting it." At least, that's what the C.S. Lewis quote generating tweet that I follow told me the day of Thanksgiving. At first, I misread the quote replacing 'repenting' with 'representing.' How do I "represent" thanksgiving right now I thought? Well, I'm eating, I'm with family, I'm about to watch football, I'm sending and receiving Happy Thanksgiving texts like a madman. If you really wanna know about, I don't really even like this holiday much. The shopping that has attached itself to it like some kind of parasite, all the consuming of turkeys (which Franklin wanted to be our nation's animal, seriously?) and basically all of it. Turkey isn't that good to me really, if you think about it the best part about turkey is the following day when you get to enjoy turkey sandwiches. Throw some cranberry on there, maybe some mayo...that right there is worth your time. The best items of the day, by far, are green bean casserole (of course my grandmother makes the best) and pumpkin pie (grandma also makes the best). None of this neither here nor there other than to explain my dislike for the day in general. And yes, we do represent this day I guess when we do all the things the holiday is about.
In the quote by C.S. Lewis, the accurate one, he is making an interesting point about being thankful. Repenting selfishness is to be thankful. To forget about yourself and realize what has been given to you brings one to a state of thankfulness. Maybe that is what I miss in this Holiday. Maybe that is what I miss a lot of the time. I'm usually committing or about to commit selfishness in some way or another because I am usually missing the point, focused on such a tiny piece of this world - myself. This year, however, was the first Thanksgiving, sadly, that I think I truly am thankful. This year I represented the word "Thanksgiving" rather than the holiday. I was able to forget myself, step back, and recognize the blessings I have. In doing so I repented from selfishness. A wise man once told me that often times it seems like you are skipping from one stone to the next in life...jumping from one to another in a zig-zag pattern. When we stop and turn around to look back, however; we'll often find a straight path. The more we repent the more we rectify that path, the more direct it becomes. I hope everyone repented from selfishness this Thanksgiving and represented the word instead of the idea.

You Do Not Get To Decide

I was scanning through Donald Miller's blog today, which usually is not as inspirational as one who is a fan of his might assume, but it is interesting and has some fun posts. I don't think he is going for anything life-changing with his blog, nor should he really, but I guess my expectations are set high with this guy. Anyways, on his blog he has a section called Confessions, Observations, and Justifications for writing about yourself (His primary mode of attack in his novels). One of his reasons reads: "I didn’t make myself, I’m not taking credit for my existence, so what’s the difference between talking about myself and talking about somebody else?" Usually I would pass over something like this without a second thought, but it struck me because it is something I think about often. The fact that I did not choose to live. Intrinsically, the fact that I am alive and have what I need to survive provided for me, that the earth works in conjunction with my needs as well as others, is a good basis for any discussion regarding the age-old questions of "where did we come from and why are we here?" Now whether you believe in creation or evolution or a combination of the two, any reasonable person can agree that they did not decide to exist - they simply do. Therefore, whether you believe life came from a creator or from substances colliding (still not sure where those substances came from to begin with), not a single person has ever or will ever give themselves life or provide themselves with existence. With that being said, to call your life your own is simply false. Moreover, it is the root of pride, narcissism, and a whole slue of destructive mindsets. You do not own yourself. Where you came from does. Yes you have the ability to make decisions, to choose a Big Mac over a QuarterPounder w/ Cheese, or what I have dubbed the "Do-Qo-Po-Cho" (Which would be a horrendous decision in my opinion, but to each their own) and of course, other, more significant, life decisions. But the fact remains that you, the truth of where you came from and why you are here, lies outside of yourself. It cannot lie solely within what has been creatED, but rather with the origins of creation. This is not relative, it applies to each person. Donald Miller touches on this in the second half of his reason for writing about himself saying that the difference between writing about yourself and writing about someone else is essentially the same - when you are writing about yourself you are writing about a human, the human condition, the basics of life; all of which are applicable to each individual. The first half of his quote is the focal point, however; "I'm not taking credit for my own existence." Who can? We got here somehow. Life exists somehow. We don't get to make that decision. I do not get to decide how these things happened. None of us get to decide.