Monday, July 18, 2011

The Meaning of Life.

I had an interesting conversation with a girl from my work today. She jokingly got onto the topic of 'What is the meaning of life?' (as we were simultaneously taking some down some decorations from a frightening height, ironically). I proceeded to ask her this question in all seriousness and she didn't have an answer for me. She did, however, ask me the same question. I explained to her that I believe in God and I'm a Christian, and that I'm a Christian in the sense that it affects the way I live my life everyday, I don't just say that. She then went on to say 'I believe in God too, but I just don't do anything about it, like you were saying. I'll do something about it later.' And I responded, 'Like when you're 70?' and she said 'Yep, when I'm on my deathbed.'

I don't remember what I said from then on, but the conversation kind of closed up for some reason. I didn't press into it much more, though now I feel that I should've.

There must be so many people out there who think the same thing as this young lady. They agree that God exists, but they for some reason feel that God is stupid or dumb. The reason I label it like this is because by suggesting that we could live our lives as we please, unfaithful to God the whole way through, in the way that we know best possibly implies that God is oblivious or blinded to our unfaithfulness and will just accept us as the curtain closes. It could be a matter of thinking we understand his unending grace and thereby abusing that, but there is no doubt in my mind that God knows our hearts and he will judge accordingly.

God is not dumb or stupid. He is not oblivious to our rebelliousness and the true state of our hearts. The Bible says that he will judge us on many accounts; in terms of whether we did things for others as we would for him (Matt. 25:31-46), whether we loved God and loved others (Luke 10:25-28), whether we obey his commandments (Matt. 19:16-17), whether we have faith and live it out (John 3:16, 36). These are just some of the things the Bible says that God will judge us on.

Someone once told me a perfect analogy for this common mistake people make in their beliefs about God. Imagine a groom waiting at the altar for his bride. She enters the church, and the groom waits accordingly for her to reach him at the end of the aisle. However, as she floats down the aisle, her eyes are not set on her husband-to-be, but on every other man beside the aisle. She winks at them, flirts with them, allures them; all the while her groom stands watching as she slowly makes her way to him in a distracted manner. She may well get to him at the end, but do you think he didn't see what she was doing? Yes, he loves her unconditionally, but their relationship wouldn't work if one of their hearts was not fully committed. It's like this with us and God. During life we may see him as our ultimate goal, but we couldn't care less about how we get there and how we treat him in the process. Not that God needs us but that we think think we can disregard him as a being who loves, cares, judges, speaks and responds.

We may well get to him at the end of the aisle, but unfortunately, I don't think that would mean much if we were still looking back with no true remorse about rebelling against him from the very outset.

Just some thoughts..

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Truth.

"A woman’s heart must be so lost in God that a man must seek him to find her.."

Mmm.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Avoidance.

You're avoiding me because you know I'm telling the truth.
And sometimes the truth is hard to hear.
It disagrees with us, breaks our pride, brings us to our knees.
To that place we know we need to be.
But we'd fight and struggle and rebel just to flee from it.
Just to stay as we are.
To stay in our own secluded haven.
To stay broken, but fixing it the way we know how to.
By avoiding.

I give up.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Spinning Circles.

Once again, I find myself longing to share how music is a language in itself that speaks for me.
I wrote this song a while ago for a close friend who was facing a really tough, uncontrollable situation. From her perspective, this situation was unchangeable, bleak, depressing and unhopeful, in every way. As humans, our natural response is to want to blame someone, particularly God. He's meant to be on our side, right? So why on earth would he allow such a horrid circumstance to play itself out?
I wrote this song from this perspective, where it feels as if God had thrown not just one spanner in the works, but many, causing one thing to go wrong after another; the depressive outlook on life did not end.

Spinning Circles

What did I do wrong this time?
Spinning circles in my head
I find my reflection in the pavement here
They sing stories of yesteryear

It's happening all over,
It's happening all over again..
It's happening all over,
It's happening all over again..

You took away all that I had
Crowded rooms welcoming my face
There's no place that I'd hate more to be in
When they sing stories of yesteryear

It's happening all over,
It's happening all over again..
It's happening all over,
It's happening all over again..

There's a hole in my chest
And you're not healing it
Though you'll say you're all loving
And you'll say that you're near
There's no way out of this
Though I quietly persist
And your shadow seems too much to take in..

It's happening all over,
It's happening all over again..
It's happening all over,
It's happening all over again..

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Dirty and Left Out.


This guy inspires me so much.

Dirty and Left Out - The Almost

Hello, I swear I won't be too long
Hello, I promise I'll be real strong
Wait up, I just wanna tell you
Hold up, why are you still here?

I've been dirtier than you wanna know
I've left earlier than you'll ever know

Why do, you wanna be all listenin' to me
Why do, you spread your arms and tell me I'm free
Why do, you wanna be in my life
In my life

I've been dirtier than you wanna know
I've left earlier than you'll ever know

Jesus, Jesus
There's something about your name
Master, saviour, Jesus

Monday, June 6, 2011

Beginnings.

I can't count on one hand the amount of times I've endeavoured to start a blog and given up straight away or gotten over it for the mere fact that there was probably no one reading it! But this time, I'll persist! (and hope that someone is reading..)

Before I begin talking about stuff and nonsense, I must advise that I am prone to explain myself using lyrics, poetry or quote from another writer. This is probably because I feel that they explain things better than I ever could, but on a deeper level, I'm just not an amazing writer. I love music, but I must admit that I am profusely inclined to pay close attention to the lyrics of a song rather than the music itself, unless a catchy riff steals me first. Somehow, putting the two together - music and lyrics - has the potential to speak for us, and evoke in us something inexplicable. One poet, Victor Hugo, put it quite beautifully,
"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent."

This blog isn't necessarily themed, it's just my random thoughts here and there. I'm a little stumped as to what to write about, so suggestions are appreciated, if you're actually reading! I strive to be transparent in life, and that's no different here (Oh, and as for the name, I just thought it was cute!).

Perhaps I'll start by linking you to a song that is on repeat at the moment; "Featherstone" by The Paper Kites. I've seen this band play live several times now and cannot sufficiently describe how wonderful they are as writers and musicians, so you'll just have to listen for now! www.triplejunearthed.com.au/thepaperkites
They have a much anticipated show coming up in July, featuring new material! (wootwoot!)


"Wake up to the sound of your fleeting heart.."

Sarah.