Isn't it funny how music brings out raw emotion and the feelings you want to express but can't? I am always amazed at how truthful music is and how I always seem to relate to it in an intense way. Like, an artist can sing one line and it describes an entire emotion for me. I want to reach into my speakers, grab them, and pull them back with me. I want them to tell me exactly what they meant and how the heck did they get so smart that they know all this stuff???
One singer that I find especially blunt with his lyrics is Jonny Craig. Now, what's funny about this whole thing is that Sir Craig is not a Christian, and I am. Non-Christians don't bother me at all, but it's funny that maybe I would find some inklings of inspiration from someone with completely different beliefs than me. But his songs are honest and they speak the truth about certain things that we encounter everyday. He makes my soul crave more from God and from my own self. He makes me want to discover more about life and how to deal with certain situations, people, events, etc. I hear his voice and I'm locked in, hooked, can't get out.
Whoever decided to publish Donald Miller was a genius. I am currently reading his book Searching for God Knows What and I am constantly finding myself agreeing with all of his theories and evaluations of society. We feed ourselves lies about a lifeboat where we are all trying to get a spot in the lifeboat. We all want to be important enough to get a spot in this stupid boat. Everything we do is for the approval of others. How pathetic is that? But, because of the Fall and our lack of knowledge of how much God loves us and yada yada yada, we seek all this approval from people... who are just like us... and have no greater importance than us. We starve for attention and smiles from our peers when it really doesn't matter.
We think that the truth is that we should be on our best behavior for everyone else. But that is also the lie. God is the only one we need to perform for.
But why perform? Why not just do? Why can't we just do what we do because that is what we are good at or what we enjoy or whatever. God made us all a certain way because that is the best way we function. That is our calling, that is our mode.
Maybe we should look in between the silly lines we form and see what really lies inside. What do we really want to see and what do we really believe.
Did anyone ever think of the people who would sacrifice themselves in the lifeboat? The people who were selfless and never really cared about the lifeboat at all? What are these people doing in their everyday life that makes them the brave ones?
So many things to think. So many things to put into perspective.
