Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and not just because of the food. I find myself all too often being critical of the things and people around me. It's faaaaar too easy to complain, and to lose sight of all the many things I have to be thankful for. Especially in as great a country as I live in, where my every need is met, and I have enough leftover to pursue things I want. So here is a list of things I am thankful for:
~I am thankful for my beautiful wife, and for how splendidly our wedding went.
~I am thankful for an absolutely amazing family I get to be a part of.
~I am thankful for the many good friends I've been able to make, even despite years of moving around.
~I am thankful for a president who believes in helping others less fortunate than himself.
~I am thankful for a country where I even have the freedom to vote.
~I am thankful for my jobs that allow me to work with amazing people (and make some $$$)
~I am thankful for a university I can attend that allows me to be educated and develop my faith.
And there are so many other things, to. Too many to list. But that's the point, I guess. When you really think about all the wonderful things in life that you have, it really helps shape your perspective on things.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Obligatory Election Post (or, "A vote for Romney is a vote for god*" {*eventually, in altenrate universe})
Ok, to start things off, I voted for Romney. I will explain/qualify that statement, but I do want to just go ahead and get that on the table.
Now, regardless of whether or not he wins the election, Mitt Romney deserves a standing ovation. I mean, the guy has accomplished a feat that theologians and church historians will be talking about for decades.
Mitt Romney has caused a more dramatic shift in church policy in one political campaign than "progressive" Christianity has changed in decades of slow and arduous work. If you really think about it, it's monumental what he has caused. It's astronomically mind blowing!
For years, the church in America, or at least the protestant church, has voted Republican. And they hem and haw about it not being political, it's just a matter of faith. "We vote for the Christian candidate because we share the same faith system." they say. Or when both candidates claim to be Christians, they'll say things like "well Mr. X might claim to be a Christian, but Mr. Y really acts more like one." And almost unilaterally, when asked if they would ever vote for an atheist, they would quickly answer no.
Mitt Romney has shattered this.
Think about it. He has the conservative Christian vote wrapped up pretty tight. It's almost laughable when you really think about this.
Christians, who believe one God created the entire universe, and that he sent His Son to die so that the sins of mankind might be redeemed, voted for a Mormon. They voted for a man who believes that God was really just a good guy in some alternate universe, who because he was so good, was given his own universe to be god of. Mitt Romney, as a Mormon, believes that, when he dies, he will be a god, who will father an entire race of people with his spirit-wives, and the spirit babies will be given fleshly bodies to live in.
And Christians voted for him. This is what makes me sad.
The American church needs a physician. No, not a physician, THE Physician. This election, we have fallen into the pitfall of letting our politics trump our faith. We looked at Romney and said, "well, he hates the right people and he opposes the right things, so forget the fact that he believes God is really just a good person, and that he himself will be the god of his own universe someday, I'll vote for him."
These were our options:
1. A man who believes that the one Sovereign God of the universe, whose Son died for all of our sins. He believes that this God would want the poor should be fed, the sick cared for, and that the quality of life should be better for those grasping at the bottom rung of our society.
2. A man who believes that, when he dies, he'll be granted godship of his own universe, in which he will have all the spirit-sex he could ever want, and so that he can father his own race of people to rule over as their god. He believes that the poor are poor mostly because of their own fault, and that the wealthy shouldn't have to contribute more to a system that helps people who have nothing. If people can't afford their hospital services, well that's their own fault for working as menial laborers, isn't it?
Which of those sounds more Christian to you?
"But Nathan, what about abortion and gay-rights?!"
Bingo!
To the American Christian, those are THE ONLY TWO ISSUES that matter this election. All of the others are moderately important, but gay-rights and abortion are the only two that matter when selecting whom to vote for. Forget ALL of the theology tied up in the disparity between Mormonism and Christianity, the only things we need to worry about come election season are making sure gays can't get married, and making sure women can't get abortions.
Now again, I voted for Romney; but here's why:
1. His moral compass seems more aligned with mine. He believes, as do I, that unborn children are human, and that they have as much right to live as anyone else in this country does. Abortions shouldn't be given out because a child is inconvenient. He believes that homosexuality is wrong, and that while we can't do anything about the sin itself, we can refuse to promote it as being normal.
2. Our country has a very sickly economy right now, and the Obama administration has done little to nothing to fix it. More of the same will only cripple us further. While Romney's economic ideas and associations may not be the best ever, they certainly seem more productive than Obama's policies have proven to be.
Notice how I didn't say anything about him being "the Christian choice". I get very sad to hear people say things like "I don't understand how a Christian could vote for..." or "Well it's obvious that good Christians vote for...". It's truly sad. When you boil things down, Obama is more Christian than Romney. Obama believes in a world where all people have the opportunity to live a fulfilled life. In his mind, there shouldn't be any poor people, because those who have been blessed with more turn around and share that blessing with those who lack. Obama believes in a world where people receive hospital treatment because their human beings, not because they have enough cash to make it worthwhile.
Now, I do believe he went about trying to achieve that dream in the totally wrong way. I don't believe that the goal of social equality can exist without the right to have a fair chance of being born. You have to start there and then work on the other things. But I digress.
In this country, and as a Christian, you should vote because of the issues that are most important to you. End of story. If there's one thing I have learned at Cedarville, it's that their are godly Christians who believe in a plethora of different interpretations of thousands of mini-issues in theology. Some believe alcohol consumption is ok, and some don't. Does that make them not Christians? No! So while we can discuss the different scriptural evidences for sanctity of life versus free-will (or any other of a vast number of issues), it needs to be done from the perspective of trying to find truth within Scripture.
The church is ALWAYS corrupted by politics, and I am afraid that this election year, that line was blurred dangerously too often.
Now, regardless of whether or not he wins the election, Mitt Romney deserves a standing ovation. I mean, the guy has accomplished a feat that theologians and church historians will be talking about for decades.
Mitt Romney has caused a more dramatic shift in church policy in one political campaign than "progressive" Christianity has changed in decades of slow and arduous work. If you really think about it, it's monumental what he has caused. It's astronomically mind blowing!
For years, the church in America, or at least the protestant church, has voted Republican. And they hem and haw about it not being political, it's just a matter of faith. "We vote for the Christian candidate because we share the same faith system." they say. Or when both candidates claim to be Christians, they'll say things like "well Mr. X might claim to be a Christian, but Mr. Y really acts more like one." And almost unilaterally, when asked if they would ever vote for an atheist, they would quickly answer no.
Mitt Romney has shattered this.
Think about it. He has the conservative Christian vote wrapped up pretty tight. It's almost laughable when you really think about this.
Christians, who believe one God created the entire universe, and that he sent His Son to die so that the sins of mankind might be redeemed, voted for a Mormon. They voted for a man who believes that God was really just a good guy in some alternate universe, who because he was so good, was given his own universe to be god of. Mitt Romney, as a Mormon, believes that, when he dies, he will be a god, who will father an entire race of people with his spirit-wives, and the spirit babies will be given fleshly bodies to live in.
And Christians voted for him. This is what makes me sad.
The American church needs a physician. No, not a physician, THE Physician. This election, we have fallen into the pitfall of letting our politics trump our faith. We looked at Romney and said, "well, he hates the right people and he opposes the right things, so forget the fact that he believes God is really just a good person, and that he himself will be the god of his own universe someday, I'll vote for him."
These were our options:
1. A man who believes that the one Sovereign God of the universe, whose Son died for all of our sins. He believes that this God would want the poor should be fed, the sick cared for, and that the quality of life should be better for those grasping at the bottom rung of our society.
2. A man who believes that, when he dies, he'll be granted godship of his own universe, in which he will have all the spirit-sex he could ever want, and so that he can father his own race of people to rule over as their god. He believes that the poor are poor mostly because of their own fault, and that the wealthy shouldn't have to contribute more to a system that helps people who have nothing. If people can't afford their hospital services, well that's their own fault for working as menial laborers, isn't it?
Which of those sounds more Christian to you?
"But Nathan, what about abortion and gay-rights?!"
Bingo!
To the American Christian, those are THE ONLY TWO ISSUES that matter this election. All of the others are moderately important, but gay-rights and abortion are the only two that matter when selecting whom to vote for. Forget ALL of the theology tied up in the disparity between Mormonism and Christianity, the only things we need to worry about come election season are making sure gays can't get married, and making sure women can't get abortions.
Now again, I voted for Romney; but here's why:
1. His moral compass seems more aligned with mine. He believes, as do I, that unborn children are human, and that they have as much right to live as anyone else in this country does. Abortions shouldn't be given out because a child is inconvenient. He believes that homosexuality is wrong, and that while we can't do anything about the sin itself, we can refuse to promote it as being normal.
2. Our country has a very sickly economy right now, and the Obama administration has done little to nothing to fix it. More of the same will only cripple us further. While Romney's economic ideas and associations may not be the best ever, they certainly seem more productive than Obama's policies have proven to be.
Notice how I didn't say anything about him being "the Christian choice". I get very sad to hear people say things like "I don't understand how a Christian could vote for..." or "Well it's obvious that good Christians vote for...". It's truly sad. When you boil things down, Obama is more Christian than Romney. Obama believes in a world where all people have the opportunity to live a fulfilled life. In his mind, there shouldn't be any poor people, because those who have been blessed with more turn around and share that blessing with those who lack. Obama believes in a world where people receive hospital treatment because their human beings, not because they have enough cash to make it worthwhile.
Now, I do believe he went about trying to achieve that dream in the totally wrong way. I don't believe that the goal of social equality can exist without the right to have a fair chance of being born. You have to start there and then work on the other things. But I digress.
In this country, and as a Christian, you should vote because of the issues that are most important to you. End of story. If there's one thing I have learned at Cedarville, it's that their are godly Christians who believe in a plethora of different interpretations of thousands of mini-issues in theology. Some believe alcohol consumption is ok, and some don't. Does that make them not Christians? No! So while we can discuss the different scriptural evidences for sanctity of life versus free-will (or any other of a vast number of issues), it needs to be done from the perspective of trying to find truth within Scripture.
The church is ALWAYS corrupted by politics, and I am afraid that this election year, that line was blurred dangerously too often.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Learning to speak Entish
There is a scene in Lord of the Rings where Merry and Pippin, having been rescued from the uruks, are left in the care of the tree-giants known as Ents. What has stuck with me from this scene is a quote the Ent Treebeard says:
"You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say."
If you watch the movies, you know exactly what this means, but for explanation's sake, here's another quote (also because I like it *grin*):
Merry: It's (the Ent meeting) been going for hours.
Pippin: They must have decided something by now.
Treebeard: Decided? No, we have just finished saying "Good Morning".
Merry: But it's night time already! You can't take forever!
Treebeard: Now, don't be hasty, master Merriadoc.
This has stuck with me for a number of reasons. First, it's an amusing commentary on the differences between the generations in our society. But also because of the interesting commentary, well, I guess it's still a generational difference.
When my family lived in Suffolk, VA, we went to a house called "Riddick's Folly" that was full of historical artifacts from the Civil War. Among them are letters written from soldiers to their loved ones. One of them includes an apology near the end for his letter being so short; a measly 5 pages long. Now I don't know about you, but I can't remember the last time I hand-wrote something 5 pages long.
Few people in my generation have had to do that, but my issue is less about the writing. My generation has almost entirely lost the ability to converse. If a conversation gets more than five minutes long, we get a lot of awkward silences. We just don't understand how to do it. It's an art that has been lost to us, and I think I have pinned a culprit.
Television.
When you think about it, it makes sense. TV shows have a limited amount of time to convey their plot for the episode, and thus they cannot spend prolonged time in conversation. But an unintended side effect of this is that our generation, which is statistically more media-saturated than previous generations, has learned that all valuable conversation can happen within five minutes or less. We now have a developed stigma against prolonged conversation. It's not that we couldn't do it, or that we don't want to. It's that we have been trained not to by our media conventions.
There's not a lot we can do about it. In fact about all you can do is make a conscious effort to invest in solid conversation. And this is where the 'generational' thing comes back into the picture. A great place to start training yourself to converse is with people from our parents' or grandparents' generations. The art of conversation hasn't left them like it has us.
Speak with them, and learn to converse more deeply.
Learn how to say things that are "worth taking a long time to say".
Learn to speak Entish :)
"You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say."
If you watch the movies, you know exactly what this means, but for explanation's sake, here's another quote (also because I like it *grin*):
Merry: It's (the Ent meeting) been going for hours.
Pippin: They must have decided something by now.
Treebeard: Decided? No, we have just finished saying "Good Morning".
Merry: But it's night time already! You can't take forever!
Treebeard: Now, don't be hasty, master Merriadoc.
This has stuck with me for a number of reasons. First, it's an amusing commentary on the differences between the generations in our society. But also because of the interesting commentary, well, I guess it's still a generational difference.
When my family lived in Suffolk, VA, we went to a house called "Riddick's Folly" that was full of historical artifacts from the Civil War. Among them are letters written from soldiers to their loved ones. One of them includes an apology near the end for his letter being so short; a measly 5 pages long. Now I don't know about you, but I can't remember the last time I hand-wrote something 5 pages long.
Few people in my generation have had to do that, but my issue is less about the writing. My generation has almost entirely lost the ability to converse. If a conversation gets more than five minutes long, we get a lot of awkward silences. We just don't understand how to do it. It's an art that has been lost to us, and I think I have pinned a culprit.
Television.
When you think about it, it makes sense. TV shows have a limited amount of time to convey their plot for the episode, and thus they cannot spend prolonged time in conversation. But an unintended side effect of this is that our generation, which is statistically more media-saturated than previous generations, has learned that all valuable conversation can happen within five minutes or less. We now have a developed stigma against prolonged conversation. It's not that we couldn't do it, or that we don't want to. It's that we have been trained not to by our media conventions.
There's not a lot we can do about it. In fact about all you can do is make a conscious effort to invest in solid conversation. And this is where the 'generational' thing comes back into the picture. A great place to start training yourself to converse is with people from our parents' or grandparents' generations. The art of conversation hasn't left them like it has us.
Speak with them, and learn to converse more deeply.
Learn how to say things that are "worth taking a long time to say".
Learn to speak Entish :)
Friday, September 7, 2012
What does our music say about us?
Or rather, what do I think it says about us. And also, admittedly, it's a limited scope of music, and kind of some general observations, but anyways, this was occupying my mind last night, so it's going up here.
There exists a general opinion, which I subscribe to, that you can tell a great deal about a culture by its musical trends. Music touches us because of the message it sends, or how it makes us feel. We identify with music that matches our mood. I mean, who listens to Little Richard's "You Make Me Wanna Shout" when they just got laid off? Or who listens to Barber's Adagio for Strings when their team won the big game? The power of music is its ability to amplify our emotions.
To begin this, post, I first need to clarify that I understand there are exceptions. This is a lot of broad generalization, and is in no means an attempt to be extremely thorough or exhaustive. It's just an interesting thought process I had, and wanted to share.
So to begin this analysis, let me point out what kind of music was a huge hit during the depression. Blues. Granted, it began to grow in popularity before that, but it really resounded with people during the Great Depression. The cultural mind was preoccupied with sorrow and melancholy, and our music reflected that.
Now to move that to modern times. Our obsession with gadgets, gizmos, and all manner of electronic devices has made electronic music take off in popularity. Where once people were nerds, dorks, or rejects for listening to electronic music, now it is all the rage. I remember predicting as much in middle school; that electronic music would gain popularity and become mainstream. I was still made fun of (but oh well, I WAS SO TOTALLY RIGHT!).
So I got to thinking, since the real "arrival" of electronic music on the scene, what are a couple that were very popular (with the audience that listens to electronic music) and what are the differences between them that might reflect a shift in our cultural psyche? So I decided to consider the sub-genres "hardstyle" and "dubstep".
Hardstyle was very popular a couple of years ago, and basically came about as a very distorted and faster version of house, which is the very simplistic "bum-tis-bum-tis-bum-tis" sound often associated with techno. Hardstyle is categorized by being high-energy and, well, that's pretty much the best descriptors. Here are some good examples:
Freak by ShowTek
Hahaha by SMF
Imitate by Dragan
There are plenty more, but a lot of them have a fair bit of foul language and themes like parties, drugs, and sex. A song that pretty well sums up the general attitude of hardstyle can be found here, but I warn you, it's a pretty worldly monologue (aka, lots of f-bombs). But it amply sums up the vibe of the time period. Life is about partying. Enjoy life. Do what you want. Live for the weekends. Just blast through life doing things you love.
Stylistically, hardstyle is reminiscent of house or DnB (Drum 'n' Bass) music. It is a steady beat that slowly develops and matures. Hardstyle songs are all about two elements. First is the Build; the gradual addition of increasingly complicated and complex musical structures that grow off of each other. Second is the Climax; the pinnacle of the song, usually following a cross-level fade (everything gets quiet) or a monologue section or a key soundbite from a popular film (which often gives the song it's name. This peak of the song is where the melody is usually fully developed and all the elements of the song work together to produce a very energetic and exhilarating listening experience. If you were to diagram a hardstyle song, it would look like a pyramid: everything builds to the climax, and slowly resolves after that.
This arrangement contributes to the theme of the music. Life builds to a furious fever-pitch. You hit the top of the world and life is just amazing. You reach a high point where nothing else matters but the moment, and you get caught up in the marvelous experience of just living life. Hardstyle evokes a sort of ecstatic frenzy and feeling of being "high on life".
During the time it was most popular, that was the general attitude. Sure, life stinks sometimes, but there are still peaks. No matter how slow or methodical life seems, there is always points where you just hit cloud nine, and you need to live for those moments. People did crazy things just because they could. They pushed themselves to the limit, just for the thrill of the moment. It was a time where all that mattered was enjoying the high points of life, and surviving the times in between those high points.
Now this is in contrast to Dubstep, which is still developing in its popularity, but seems to be hitting it big, so to speak. Dubstep, in the words of my brother, sounds a bit like "if you crossed all of the robot-sounds from Transformers and made music out of it." And he's not far off. Dubstep is very loud, distorted, frantic, and chaotic. It has repetitive elements, but also confusing and non-linear elements as well. Here are some good examples of some dubstep:
Tutorial by Dubba Jonny (warning: some language)
Cobwebs by Skeptics
Bangarang by Skrillex
Dubstep is a genre in which the normal elements of music (rhythm, melody, progression, etc.) are twisted and chopped up like an iPhone in a blender. The music often starts normal enough, a simple rhythm is developed slowly, often with accompanying vocals or a simple melody. But then all heck breaks loose and sound is coming from every direction. Not just sound, though. It's loud, crazy, hectic, and chaotic. You are quite literally plunged into a vortex of noise. This is called the Drop, and is dubstep's pinnacle moment in a song. It's the point where the floor drops out on the song and the DJ hits yo with literally everything he has.
The music reflects a mindset of fear, almost. We are a people who worry. Everything about life right now is insane. People are killing each other in every continent. There are revolutions, wars, terrorists, cruddy economies, bailouts, mass-hackings, and all manner of other things. To many right now, life just doesn't make sense. We're confused and bewildered by the veritable hurricane of problems the world has right now, and that is reflected in the music of choice that's quickly becoming popular.
All of that to say this. Our culture seems to be shifting away from "party it up" and "woohoo! Life is awesome!" to "What the heck is going on?!" As a culture we have a growing angst about things to come. The road ahead is one that we do not understand, and what is the more unsettling to us, unseen. We have no idea what lies ahead for us, and that scares the living daylights out of us.
There exists a general opinion, which I subscribe to, that you can tell a great deal about a culture by its musical trends. Music touches us because of the message it sends, or how it makes us feel. We identify with music that matches our mood. I mean, who listens to Little Richard's "You Make Me Wanna Shout" when they just got laid off? Or who listens to Barber's Adagio for Strings when their team won the big game? The power of music is its ability to amplify our emotions.
To begin this, post, I first need to clarify that I understand there are exceptions. This is a lot of broad generalization, and is in no means an attempt to be extremely thorough or exhaustive. It's just an interesting thought process I had, and wanted to share.
So to begin this analysis, let me point out what kind of music was a huge hit during the depression. Blues. Granted, it began to grow in popularity before that, but it really resounded with people during the Great Depression. The cultural mind was preoccupied with sorrow and melancholy, and our music reflected that.
Now to move that to modern times. Our obsession with gadgets, gizmos, and all manner of electronic devices has made electronic music take off in popularity. Where once people were nerds, dorks, or rejects for listening to electronic music, now it is all the rage. I remember predicting as much in middle school; that electronic music would gain popularity and become mainstream. I was still made fun of (but oh well, I WAS SO TOTALLY RIGHT!).
So I got to thinking, since the real "arrival" of electronic music on the scene, what are a couple that were very popular (with the audience that listens to electronic music) and what are the differences between them that might reflect a shift in our cultural psyche? So I decided to consider the sub-genres "hardstyle" and "dubstep".
Hardstyle was very popular a couple of years ago, and basically came about as a very distorted and faster version of house, which is the very simplistic "bum-tis-bum-tis-bum-tis" sound often associated with techno. Hardstyle is categorized by being high-energy and, well, that's pretty much the best descriptors. Here are some good examples:
Freak by ShowTek
Hahaha by SMF
Imitate by Dragan
There are plenty more, but a lot of them have a fair bit of foul language and themes like parties, drugs, and sex. A song that pretty well sums up the general attitude of hardstyle can be found here, but I warn you, it's a pretty worldly monologue (aka, lots of f-bombs). But it amply sums up the vibe of the time period. Life is about partying. Enjoy life. Do what you want. Live for the weekends. Just blast through life doing things you love.
Stylistically, hardstyle is reminiscent of house or DnB (Drum 'n' Bass) music. It is a steady beat that slowly develops and matures. Hardstyle songs are all about two elements. First is the Build; the gradual addition of increasingly complicated and complex musical structures that grow off of each other. Second is the Climax; the pinnacle of the song, usually following a cross-level fade (everything gets quiet) or a monologue section or a key soundbite from a popular film (which often gives the song it's name. This peak of the song is where the melody is usually fully developed and all the elements of the song work together to produce a very energetic and exhilarating listening experience. If you were to diagram a hardstyle song, it would look like a pyramid: everything builds to the climax, and slowly resolves after that.
This arrangement contributes to the theme of the music. Life builds to a furious fever-pitch. You hit the top of the world and life is just amazing. You reach a high point where nothing else matters but the moment, and you get caught up in the marvelous experience of just living life. Hardstyle evokes a sort of ecstatic frenzy and feeling of being "high on life".
During the time it was most popular, that was the general attitude. Sure, life stinks sometimes, but there are still peaks. No matter how slow or methodical life seems, there is always points where you just hit cloud nine, and you need to live for those moments. People did crazy things just because they could. They pushed themselves to the limit, just for the thrill of the moment. It was a time where all that mattered was enjoying the high points of life, and surviving the times in between those high points.
Now this is in contrast to Dubstep, which is still developing in its popularity, but seems to be hitting it big, so to speak. Dubstep, in the words of my brother, sounds a bit like "if you crossed all of the robot-sounds from Transformers and made music out of it." And he's not far off. Dubstep is very loud, distorted, frantic, and chaotic. It has repetitive elements, but also confusing and non-linear elements as well. Here are some good examples of some dubstep:
Tutorial by Dubba Jonny (warning: some language)
Cobwebs by Skeptics
Bangarang by Skrillex
Dubstep is a genre in which the normal elements of music (rhythm, melody, progression, etc.) are twisted and chopped up like an iPhone in a blender. The music often starts normal enough, a simple rhythm is developed slowly, often with accompanying vocals or a simple melody. But then all heck breaks loose and sound is coming from every direction. Not just sound, though. It's loud, crazy, hectic, and chaotic. You are quite literally plunged into a vortex of noise. This is called the Drop, and is dubstep's pinnacle moment in a song. It's the point where the floor drops out on the song and the DJ hits yo with literally everything he has.
The music reflects a mindset of fear, almost. We are a people who worry. Everything about life right now is insane. People are killing each other in every continent. There are revolutions, wars, terrorists, cruddy economies, bailouts, mass-hackings, and all manner of other things. To many right now, life just doesn't make sense. We're confused and bewildered by the veritable hurricane of problems the world has right now, and that is reflected in the music of choice that's quickly becoming popular.
All of that to say this. Our culture seems to be shifting away from "party it up" and "woohoo! Life is awesome!" to "What the heck is going on?!" As a culture we have a growing angst about things to come. The road ahead is one that we do not understand, and what is the more unsettling to us, unseen. We have no idea what lies ahead for us, and that scares the living daylights out of us.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Who am I?
Now, to make up for having not really posted anything for a couple days, I figured I'd write a little more today.
I have recently entered an identity crisis. Don't be alarmed, it's nothing seriously horrible or terrible, it's just the product of some good reading and having to face my nature as a man. There's been several "marital counselling/preparation" books I've read recently in the hopes that I can do at least a passable job as a husband, and throughout my reading, I've come across a common thread: men are respect gluttons.
Now, if reined in properly, this craving for respect can be a good thing, but the problem is that all too often we as men let it get ahead of us. An author used the illustration of a first-time meeting. You get a bunch of men together at a table, where none of them knows any of the others, and eventually SOMEONE will break the silence with "so tell me about yourself." Now, almost INEVITABLY, the opening of their response will be what? If you guessed 'occupation', congratulations! You win a lifetime supply of oxygen (limit one per player, void where prohibited, amount subject to lifespan)! Now this is where it gets interesting.
As men, we are created to work and provide. It is our purpose on this earth (thanks a lot Adam *scowls*) to care for and tend the earth. As such, we tend to view our significance and purpose as men through our chosen careers. "Important" men are doctors, lawyers, or scientists. "Good" men are cops, firemen, store managers, etc. "Average" men are construction workers, janitors, waiters, etc. The rest of us, well, when we say what we do, we are met with "oh... ok, cool." That pause after the "oh" is the soft whistle of a wrecking ball headed for the other man's self-esteem.
Now, is it wrong for us to make an idol of our jobs; to get so lost in the rat race that we lose sight of our true value and calling? Yes, it is. BUT, there is a fair bit of healthy competition in that need for respect. It makes us constantly strive to be better men. To accomplish more, and to make others proud, especially the people who matter most to us.
Enter me.
I am a student. I get up. I go to class. I go vacuum the cafeteria. I go vacuum one of the class buildings. I go to bed. I get up the next day and do it again. I heard someone the other day complain that their paycheck for the month was less than five-thousand dollars. And I began to daydream a bit about what exactly I would be willing to do to make even three-thousand dollars in a month. This is where the dilemma hit me. I know I'm just a student now, but the fact remains that I am spurred on by an innate desire to achieve and provide, especially now that I'm a husband. So I get home and look around at the tiny apartment that's falling apart in places, has only one overhead light, and a door that only shuts when it feels like it, and I think to myself "gee, a good man would provide better for his wife." I get home after midnight and crawl into bed next to my wife, who has been in bed for over two hours since she has to get up at 6 to get ready for work, and I think "a good husband would make enough money for his wife to not have to go to bed so early or work such crazy hours."
And then the rational me posits, and rightly so, that this is just our first year together, and we're both still students, and that things will get better. It's just a hard place to be as a man. But this is where my epiphany came in. Yes, I am a man. Yes, I am called to work, and to provide. BUT, my identity is in Christ, and it is because of this fact that I can be a good, or even a great man, regardless of my occupation. If I truly believe that my existence is merely to reflect and magnify the unmatched love of God, then the circumstances are irrelevant. A mirror in a mansion has the same purpose as one in a Walmart bathroom. And THAT is my true purpose.
I am a good man, not because of what I do, but because of what Christ has done in me.
I have recently entered an identity crisis. Don't be alarmed, it's nothing seriously horrible or terrible, it's just the product of some good reading and having to face my nature as a man. There's been several "marital counselling/preparation" books I've read recently in the hopes that I can do at least a passable job as a husband, and throughout my reading, I've come across a common thread: men are respect gluttons.
Now, if reined in properly, this craving for respect can be a good thing, but the problem is that all too often we as men let it get ahead of us. An author used the illustration of a first-time meeting. You get a bunch of men together at a table, where none of them knows any of the others, and eventually SOMEONE will break the silence with "so tell me about yourself." Now, almost INEVITABLY, the opening of their response will be what? If you guessed 'occupation', congratulations! You win a lifetime supply of oxygen (limit one per player, void where prohibited, amount subject to lifespan)! Now this is where it gets interesting.
As men, we are created to work and provide. It is our purpose on this earth (thanks a lot Adam *scowls*) to care for and tend the earth. As such, we tend to view our significance and purpose as men through our chosen careers. "Important" men are doctors, lawyers, or scientists. "Good" men are cops, firemen, store managers, etc. "Average" men are construction workers, janitors, waiters, etc. The rest of us, well, when we say what we do, we are met with "oh... ok, cool." That pause after the "oh" is the soft whistle of a wrecking ball headed for the other man's self-esteem.
Now, is it wrong for us to make an idol of our jobs; to get so lost in the rat race that we lose sight of our true value and calling? Yes, it is. BUT, there is a fair bit of healthy competition in that need for respect. It makes us constantly strive to be better men. To accomplish more, and to make others proud, especially the people who matter most to us.
Enter me.
I am a student. I get up. I go to class. I go vacuum the cafeteria. I go vacuum one of the class buildings. I go to bed. I get up the next day and do it again. I heard someone the other day complain that their paycheck for the month was less than five-thousand dollars. And I began to daydream a bit about what exactly I would be willing to do to make even three-thousand dollars in a month. This is where the dilemma hit me. I know I'm just a student now, but the fact remains that I am spurred on by an innate desire to achieve and provide, especially now that I'm a husband. So I get home and look around at the tiny apartment that's falling apart in places, has only one overhead light, and a door that only shuts when it feels like it, and I think to myself "gee, a good man would provide better for his wife." I get home after midnight and crawl into bed next to my wife, who has been in bed for over two hours since she has to get up at 6 to get ready for work, and I think "a good husband would make enough money for his wife to not have to go to bed so early or work such crazy hours."
And then the rational me posits, and rightly so, that this is just our first year together, and we're both still students, and that things will get better. It's just a hard place to be as a man. But this is where my epiphany came in. Yes, I am a man. Yes, I am called to work, and to provide. BUT, my identity is in Christ, and it is because of this fact that I can be a good, or even a great man, regardless of my occupation. If I truly believe that my existence is merely to reflect and magnify the unmatched love of God, then the circumstances are irrelevant. A mirror in a mansion has the same purpose as one in a Walmart bathroom. And THAT is my true purpose.
I am a good man, not because of what I do, but because of what Christ has done in me.
"What we have here is a failure to communicate."
So, I was reflecting on some of my classes today and I remembered a snippet from an article we read. In it, the author said something to the effect of "To the typical teenager of today, with the rise in popularity of Facebook and especially Twitter, if something cannot be said in 140 characters or less, it's not really worth saying." This is where my brief time as an English major made me reflect on how quickly our languages is shrinking, too. Not only are we losing words, but were losing the ability to use them in any sort of complex way.
This strikes me as terribly sad, and a little frightening. Not to get TOO paranoid, but this systematic reduction of language seems almost Orwellian. As we lose words, we lose the ability to express complex parts of our humanity. Now, I don't want to make too many enemies here, but the example that popped into my head was the difference in song lyrics over time, in this case Christian worship music. Here are the songs that came to mind, the older song first, and then the new:
"Could we with ink the oceans fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade.
To Write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky."
~"The Love of God" by Frederick Martin Lehman
"God in my sleeping
God in my resting
There in my working
God in my thinking
God in my speaking
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
(repeat)
~"Be my Everything" by Tim Hughes
Now don't get me wrong, the second song is completely true. God is God no matter what my state of being is, but it just strikes me as too simple. The honesty of the song is there, but is there really and truly no better way to express the unchanging nature of the Almighty God then in a sang where the lyrical rhyme scheme is AAAAAAAAA?
Now if you look at secular music, the effect is still visible. We have moved from songs like "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "My Girl" to songs called "Stupid Hoe" and "Sexy B***h". Firstly, what does that say about the effect of... well, feminism to be sure, but our culture in general. Secondly, there are plenty more examples like that. Now I know some of you will point out that the current musical trend is shifting away from lyrics to a mere emphasis on the music itself, and that argument holds some weight, but honestly I don't think that accounts for all of it.
I think that author I mentioned earlier might be right. As a culture, we are slowly shifting our definition of what is worth saying, how we say it, and even to an extent what we are capable of saying. We have moved from the bestselling books being things like Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to Jasper Fforde's "50 shades of Grey". No longer do we desire to peer into the heart and soul of our fellow man, or to challenge our minds to follow twists and turns of complex plots. We settle for base and lustful writing that promotes only self gratification and promiscuity. The mind is no longer a fertile field for intellectual exercise; it is a landfill to fill with whatever happens to be passing by.
This strikes me as terribly sad, and a little frightening. Not to get TOO paranoid, but this systematic reduction of language seems almost Orwellian. As we lose words, we lose the ability to express complex parts of our humanity. Now, I don't want to make too many enemies here, but the example that popped into my head was the difference in song lyrics over time, in this case Christian worship music. Here are the songs that came to mind, the older song first, and then the new:
"Could we with ink the oceans fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade.
To Write the love of God above
Would drain the oceans dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky."
~"The Love of God" by Frederick Martin Lehman
"God in my sleeping
God in my resting
There in my working
God in my thinking
God in my speaking
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
(repeat)
~"Be my Everything" by Tim Hughes
Now don't get me wrong, the second song is completely true. God is God no matter what my state of being is, but it just strikes me as too simple. The honesty of the song is there, but is there really and truly no better way to express the unchanging nature of the Almighty God then in a sang where the lyrical rhyme scheme is AAAAAAAAA?
Now if you look at secular music, the effect is still visible. We have moved from songs like "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "My Girl" to songs called "Stupid Hoe" and "Sexy B***h". Firstly, what does that say about the effect of... well, feminism to be sure, but our culture in general. Secondly, there are plenty more examples like that. Now I know some of you will point out that the current musical trend is shifting away from lyrics to a mere emphasis on the music itself, and that argument holds some weight, but honestly I don't think that accounts for all of it.
I think that author I mentioned earlier might be right. As a culture, we are slowly shifting our definition of what is worth saying, how we say it, and even to an extent what we are capable of saying. We have moved from the bestselling books being things like Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" to Jasper Fforde's "50 shades of Grey". No longer do we desire to peer into the heart and soul of our fellow man, or to challenge our minds to follow twists and turns of complex plots. We settle for base and lustful writing that promotes only self gratification and promiscuity. The mind is no longer a fertile field for intellectual exercise; it is a landfill to fill with whatever happens to be passing by.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Curiosity...
(This was supposed to go up yesterday, but I accidentally hit "save" instead of "publish" :p )
So, I was thinking about the Curiosity rover that landed on Mars recently. I guess what really started the thought process was just reflecting on the video I watched about it. The rover took all these photos during it's descent. and so a video was assembled that gives a sort of "rover's-eye-view" of the whole thing. It really was cool.
And you know, that's what gets me about it. Here I am, sitting in my living room, drinking Coca-Cola and watching a multi-billion dollar exploration rover drop onto a planet over 50 million kilometers away (on a good day). And I'm watching it in 1080p. How crazy is that? The wealth of information available to the common (well, at least in 1st-world countries) people is staggering. With a few strokes of a keyboard or clicks of a mouse, we can access more information than entire libraries used to have available.
But are we any smarter? Honestly, I think not. Like, we have more knowledge, but are not smarter. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but I really think it's true. Perhaps it's an overused example, but just look at the pyramids in Egypt. I mean, those people had an abacus, and slave labor. And that was it. To this day there are vast arguments about how it was done. So for all our fancy computers, and internet, and wikipedia, we are still confounded by people who did math with beads on sticks.
Kinda ridiculous. But back to Curiosity. It has surprised me how little talk there's been about it, honestly. And even more so, how negative a lot it's been. People have no grasp or concept anymore about what discovery is. We are content on our "little blue pearl". Why do we need to go look at other planets? Compare that to the veritable planet-wide freakout of the moon-landing (which wasn't filmed in NEARLY 1080p). The whole planet was moved to exuberance because we had gone to the moon. We had reached a hand into the heavens and pulled ourselves into it. Now all people can do is gripe about how pointless it is to send something like the Curiosity rover to Mars. Neil deGrasse Tyson said in an interview that we, as a people, have stopped dreaming, and I think that's what it is. We no longer have any drive to reach into the stars, or really anywhere else, honestly. We're content to run the rat-race by day, and sleep away the night.
Kinda sad, don't you think?
So, I was thinking about the Curiosity rover that landed on Mars recently. I guess what really started the thought process was just reflecting on the video I watched about it. The rover took all these photos during it's descent. and so a video was assembled that gives a sort of "rover's-eye-view" of the whole thing. It really was cool.
And you know, that's what gets me about it. Here I am, sitting in my living room, drinking Coca-Cola and watching a multi-billion dollar exploration rover drop onto a planet over 50 million kilometers away (on a good day). And I'm watching it in 1080p. How crazy is that? The wealth of information available to the common (well, at least in 1st-world countries) people is staggering. With a few strokes of a keyboard or clicks of a mouse, we can access more information than entire libraries used to have available.
But are we any smarter? Honestly, I think not. Like, we have more knowledge, but are not smarter. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but I really think it's true. Perhaps it's an overused example, but just look at the pyramids in Egypt. I mean, those people had an abacus, and slave labor. And that was it. To this day there are vast arguments about how it was done. So for all our fancy computers, and internet, and wikipedia, we are still confounded by people who did math with beads on sticks.
Kinda ridiculous. But back to Curiosity. It has surprised me how little talk there's been about it, honestly. And even more so, how negative a lot it's been. People have no grasp or concept anymore about what discovery is. We are content on our "little blue pearl". Why do we need to go look at other planets? Compare that to the veritable planet-wide freakout of the moon-landing (which wasn't filmed in NEARLY 1080p). The whole planet was moved to exuberance because we had gone to the moon. We had reached a hand into the heavens and pulled ourselves into it. Now all people can do is gripe about how pointless it is to send something like the Curiosity rover to Mars. Neil deGrasse Tyson said in an interview that we, as a people, have stopped dreaming, and I think that's what it is. We no longer have any drive to reach into the stars, or really anywhere else, honestly. We're content to run the rat-race by day, and sleep away the night.
Kinda sad, don't you think?
Monday, August 27, 2012
Introduction
Greetings to all. Before I get into details, I feel I must explain the method behind the madness... or at least why I'm starting this blog. I'm starting it for a class called Networked Audience. I'm supposed to use this blog as a launch-pad for discussing technologies that develop and leave a sort of 'paper trail' of my thought processes as the class progresses. But honestly, I think having a blog is kinda a neat idea, so I may (that is, I hope to) keep it running for more than just that.
Now, you may be wondering who I am. Well let's go ahead and sate that ravenous curiosity. My name is Nathan Wright, and I am a senior Media Communications major at Cedarville University, a private university in Ohio. I have been married 2 months and four days (as I write this) to the most wonderful and amazing gal I've ever met. I did a brief stint as an English major my first year and a half here at school, but really am more people oriented, so I switched to Communications. I love this part of the country, and I love this school, but most importantly I love Christ, so let nothing hide that fact.
My favorite color is green. I really love Snickers and Butterfinger candy bars. My favorite ice-cream flavor is Young's Dairy's "Cow Patty", which is chocolate with toffee, chocolate chips, and cookie pieces mixed into it. If I could have ANY car (and money/gas were a non-issue) I would want a Mercedes Benz CLK-GTR . I think my favorite sci-fi series (for now at least) is Warhammer 40,000, but honestly I tend to jump around a fair bit.
I have mild (self / un-diagnosed) ADD, and I seem to have given myself occasional dyslexia. No, really! It started as me just playing around with words, flipping letters, mispronouncing words, stuff like that. Well, mostly flipping letters around. Anyway, I started noticing that I would do that without thinking about it, and in situations where I didn't actually want to do it. So I stopped doing it intentionally, and the problem seems to have gone away. Weird. Anyway, where was I?
Oh, right! Pets! I must say, my favorite pets growing up were our ferrets. They smelled kinda odd, but thy were AWESOME pets. So cute and smart! Makes me happy just thinking about them. We had dogs too growing up. Sandy was a golden retriever, followed by a mutt named Sandy-Mandy when we moved and couldn't take Sandy with us. But Sandy-Mandy was kind of a jerk and bit my brother (though he did have it coming), so we had to get rid of her (now that I think about it, I don't actually know what we did with her. Odd...).
Which reminds me, I forgot to mention my family. I have my parents, Dad is a doctor and Mom is a stay at home mother (and a phenomenal one at that!). Next I have Brother, who is three years younger than me, and two sisters, who for the sake of anonymity will be referred to here as Sissy, the oldest of the two and by far the most gentle and kind soul I've ever met, and Sassy, who has (obviously) an attitude the size of a large whale. My family is probably what I treasure most in life. Dad was in the Navy, so many times, they were all I had. They were my only stability. Wow... that got reaaaally sappy. LET'S MOVE ON!
My dream occupation is voice-acting. It sounds like such a fun job, and I've been told I could do a great job at it. But realistically, with my major, I'll likely work in someone's HR department, maybe work as a manager somewhere. No idea, honestly, but wherever God leads, I suppose. Life is sure to be a grand adventure, and I'm pretty excited to see where it goes.
So that's me in a nutshell. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. Check back every so often and see what my addled mind manages to scrounge up every so often!
~Peace Out!
Now, you may be wondering who I am. Well let's go ahead and sate that ravenous curiosity. My name is Nathan Wright, and I am a senior Media Communications major at Cedarville University, a private university in Ohio. I have been married 2 months and four days (as I write this) to the most wonderful and amazing gal I've ever met. I did a brief stint as an English major my first year and a half here at school, but really am more people oriented, so I switched to Communications. I love this part of the country, and I love this school, but most importantly I love Christ, so let nothing hide that fact.
My favorite color is green. I really love Snickers and Butterfinger candy bars. My favorite ice-cream flavor is Young's Dairy's "Cow Patty", which is chocolate with toffee, chocolate chips, and cookie pieces mixed into it. If I could have ANY car (and money/gas were a non-issue) I would want a Mercedes Benz CLK-GTR . I think my favorite sci-fi series (for now at least) is Warhammer 40,000, but honestly I tend to jump around a fair bit.
I have mild (self / un-diagnosed) ADD, and I seem to have given myself occasional dyslexia. No, really! It started as me just playing around with words, flipping letters, mispronouncing words, stuff like that. Well, mostly flipping letters around. Anyway, I started noticing that I would do that without thinking about it, and in situations where I didn't actually want to do it. So I stopped doing it intentionally, and the problem seems to have gone away. Weird. Anyway, where was I?
Oh, right! Pets! I must say, my favorite pets growing up were our ferrets. They smelled kinda odd, but thy were AWESOME pets. So cute and smart! Makes me happy just thinking about them. We had dogs too growing up. Sandy was a golden retriever, followed by a mutt named Sandy-Mandy when we moved and couldn't take Sandy with us. But Sandy-Mandy was kind of a jerk and bit my brother (though he did have it coming), so we had to get rid of her (now that I think about it, I don't actually know what we did with her. Odd...).
Which reminds me, I forgot to mention my family. I have my parents, Dad is a doctor and Mom is a stay at home mother (and a phenomenal one at that!). Next I have Brother, who is three years younger than me, and two sisters, who for the sake of anonymity will be referred to here as Sissy, the oldest of the two and by far the most gentle and kind soul I've ever met, and Sassy, who has (obviously) an attitude the size of a large whale. My family is probably what I treasure most in life. Dad was in the Navy, so many times, they were all I had. They were my only stability. Wow... that got reaaaally sappy. LET'S MOVE ON!
My dream occupation is voice-acting. It sounds like such a fun job, and I've been told I could do a great job at it. But realistically, with my major, I'll likely work in someone's HR department, maybe work as a manager somewhere. No idea, honestly, but wherever God leads, I suppose. Life is sure to be a grand adventure, and I'm pretty excited to see where it goes.
So that's me in a nutshell. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean. Check back every so often and see what my addled mind manages to scrounge up every so often!
~Peace Out!
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