Believer by Cyn, January 5, 2021

 "Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'” (John 20:28, 29)

MISSIONARY POSITIONS: Before work, I listened to this song and then I overheard a conversation at work. I work with two very different coworkers. I will call them Philosopher and Church Lady. They normally are civil to each other, but there are times that they can be slightly antagonistic about their beliefs. Today was one of those days. The discussion somehow came upon similarities between Buddhism and Jesus's teachings. The Philosopher said, "There's talk that Jesus spent some of his years in India." To which, Church Lady said flatly, "No, the Bible doesn't say that." "But some people believe this..." "They're wrong. The Bible is clear." "No, it's not. What happened during the missing years?" "Jesus went to the temple. He 'grew in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and men.'" Back and forth and back and forth. 

MAKE ME A BELIEVER: This song is not about faith in God, but about faith in love. But the metaphor bated me. I thought about the evangelist's dream of an agnostic who doesn't believe but could be persuaded. Church folks "hungry for souls" would descend upon this person and make her a believer. I grew up evangelistic series after series pulling in lots of people for usually a short time. Usually these people 1) were of some similar religious background 2) had some kind of need that they found was satisfied with the church 3) and didn't examine nuanced issues about science, race, politics, sexuality, or gender, and when they did, they didn't stick around. 

THE HERESY OF QUESTIONING: Jesus told Thomas, blessed are those who believe who have not seen, and I wonder more and more what that means. I once heard that Jesus didn't actually scold Thomas for wanting proof. In many ways we all need proof for whatever we believe. I believe that people truly have faith in nothing. I was raised as a Christian and I believe many of the tenants and have shed others, but a large part of that is having grown up in a faith tradition. I'm not sure if I'm part of the blessed who believe without seeing because in many ways I have experience God. But I tend to side more with Philosopher than Church Lady because I can't answer the question, nor do I think it's relevant to say that someone else's experience in another faith tradition is invalid.

LIVE YOUR TRUTH: Ultimately, I want to live in a way that is positive for myself. I want to support others in their believe or non-belief. Whatever puts more love out into the universe is what I believe in. 


But seriously, isn't this song a banger?



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Photograph" Ed Sheeran, Saturday, February 3, 2024 (updated repost)

Image
  Before " Shape of You ," Ed Sheeran was known primarily as a singer-songwriter. His albums + and X took clear influence from The Beatles , Carole King , Elton John , James Taylor , and the ballad writers of yesteryear. But he had a knack for throwing in a few rap bars along the way. With every record, Sheeran gained more acclaim. His sophomore record produced the mega Billboard #2 hit , " Thinking Out Loud ," which won two Grammys including Song of the Year. The final single from the album, " Photograph " was written in collaboration with Snow Patrol 's Johnny McDaid . Sheeran drew inspiration from his long distance relationship with singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt (the featured musician on Kodaline ’s acoustic version of “Brand New Day” ). The two spent five months apart. They would eventually break up, but the song remains a gem on Sheeran's second best-selling record.  LOVING CAN HURT . "Photograph" was the song that introduced m
Read more

“Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry (reworked post), Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Image
When I was a Christian teenager, a book started circulating in my church youth group. Joshua Harris wrote about youth with wisdom and authority that seemed logical and categorical for every situation to the young women who read I Kissed Dating Goodbye . The book’s thesis argued that dating was a worldly alternative to the more purposeful Christian concept of courtship. Dating fueled erotic passions, which must be saved for a heterosexual marriage. Dating is casual, even preteens dates. Courtship was about vetting a marriage partner and would happen in the late teen years or early adulthood.  YOU THINK I'M PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON .  Josh Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye was part of a movement I’ve written about a lot: purity culture. How much this movement influenced young Katy Hudson, a pastor’s daughter in Southern California, touring with a slew of Christian rockers on the heels of her debut, self-titled album , I can only speculate what went through the 17-year-old star’s
Read more

"All of Me Wants All of You" (Helado Negro Remix) by Sufjan Stevens, Sunday, February 27, 2022

Image
I've talked about how Carrie & Lowell , Sufjan Steven 's 2015 masterpiece, is a quintessential portrait of dealing with grief and forgiveness when I wrote about the first two tracks, " Death with Dignity ," and " Should Have Known Better ." By the third track on the record, " All of Me Wants All of You ," explores grief in a different way from the previous two tracks. As with most songs on the album, "All of Me" appears to be deeply personal to the artist. But being personal doesn't stop this track's language from being the most obscured with allusions to geography and possibly an allegory from a little-known Spanish play. ALL OF ME THINKS LESS OF YOU.  There's a debate   on Lyrics Genius about the meaning of this song, especially surrounding the identity of the only other character mentioned by name in this song, Manelich. Is he the one the song is about? Stevens has written vaguely about homosexual attraction throughout
Read more