God is not a white man

I thought this was fun and profound. Enjoy.

The Chick Flick Reality

The screaming. The crying. The jumping up and down. He finally popped the question! It’s a dream come true. A happily ever after. It’s just like the movies.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s exciting. I’ve been there, and I loved every second of it. But it’s not like the movies. In fact, chick flicks have created unrealistic expectations for engagement and marriage.

Earlier this year CNN released an article entitled, “Romantic films put too much pressure on guys?” In the article, Ryan Gosling, who played the male lead in The Notebook, tells a story of a future bride who asked her fiancé if he would build a house for her like Gosling’s character did for his true love. When the fiancé replied that he didn’t know how, she called off the wedding.

While that may be a little extreme, the chick flick expectation still thrives on other levels. I know one girl who was openly disappointed that her fiancé didn’t spend a lot of money on a ring, and another who called off her wedding only to get re-engaged a couple months later, this time with a bigger rock.

Now, guys, don’t pretend this is just a girl-thing. As a two-year RA, I sat in my room listening to guys talk for hours about how much better their lives would be if they only had a girlfriend or fiancé. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s in every movie.

Take ten seconds and jot down the names of movies that end in a proposal or wedding…The Notebook, The Proposal, While You Were Sleeping, The Wedding Planner, 27 Dresses…While these movies present compelling, heartfelt love stories, they forget to mention that when the wedding is over, it’s over.

Teesha and I had a perfect wedding. Had our lives been a chick flick and the wedding the final scene, we’d have let the credits roll. But I soon discovered why romantic comedies end with the wedding.

Before landing in Cabo, we visualized the perfect chick-flick honeymoon, complete with hours of sunbathing on the beach and a personal waiter. Instead, we spent the first three days repeatedly rejecting overeager timeshare salesmen and avoiding resort employees who required a five dollar tip for bringing a glass of water. Shortly after our trip, I ended up in Urgent Care with a sun rash, and Teesha experienced an emergency wisdom tooth removal.

Although our first three weeks didn’t quite meet the chick-flick expectations of wedded bliss, we’ve since learned to set aside our unrealistic expectations and have found contentment in the actualities of marriage. But how could we have known that life-after-wedding wasn’t perfect? The movies never got that far.

The Cave - Mumford & Sons

It's empty in the valley of your heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left behind

The harvest left no food for you to eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

Cause I have other things to fill my time
You take what is yours and I'll take mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind

So tie me to a post and block my ears
I can see widows and orphans through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears

But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
And see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand

So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be

And I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck

And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again

This song is meaningful to me because it emphasizes the yearning for purpose in life. The writer begins the piece describing someone's emptiness, but says "I've seen the same."

In the chorus, the writer tells his friend that they're in this together and assures that he'll find strength in pain. This could be allusion to the pain of Christ because the next line says, "I'll know my name as it's called again," a possible reference to Christ's second coming.

In the second verse the writer tells someone else to that can believe what they want to, but don't keep him from pursuing the truth that will free his broken mind. He describes a scene where he is bound and his ears are covered, but he sees widows and orphans which ensure him that the call upon his life is real.

After the chorus, the writer implores others to come out of their caves. The assumption is that this alludes to Plato's allegory of the cave, which tells of individuals who are chained to the walls of the cave and the shadows they see on the wall of the passersby are the closest they'll ever get to reality. The writer says, "Come out of the caves walking on your hands," implying that they are archaic without the truth he has found. The line, "You can understand dependence when you know the maker's hand," is an obvious reference to God.

He concludes by telling people to say anything they want, but he won't listen. "Cause I need freedom now, and I need to know how to live my life as it's meant to be."

In light of this, "The Cave" ends perfectly.

"I'll know my name as it's called again."

Jesus Goes Viral

For those who have not yet discovered the NBC show Community, let me give you a very brief overview. The show is built around the members of a Spanish class study group, all of whom represent a different stereotype of people who attend community college.

The group's leader is Jeff, a good-looking, former lawyer who was disbarred after it was discovered that his law degree was from Columbia...the country, not the university. He was extremely successful and lived the high-life, but has been forced to attend Greendale Community College in order to get a real degree. Britta is an unnecessarily rebellious blonde who has never really found her place in life and has come to Greendale in search of something substantial. Abed is an undiagnosable, Middle Eastern individual who is mysteriously brilliant and highly perceptive. No one really knows why he’s at Greendale. Annie was the smart, almost-valedictorian girl in high school who became addicted to pain killers and had to enter rehab rather than pursuing her academic dreams. Troy athletic, African American who was the captain of the high school football team and never cared about school until he didn’t get a football scholarship. He and Annie graduated high school together, but were in completely different social circles. Shirley is a recently divorced, African American mother of two who is going back to school to get a degree. Finally, there is Pierce, the elder of the group. Pierce has lived a complete life and really has nothing left to do, so he enrolled at Greendale. It is assumed that Pierce was really into the 60s…

It is also important to note that each member of the study group comes from a completely different religious viewpoint, which brings us to the clip. Shirley, the Christian of the group, believers that young black kids need to know about Jesus, and what better way to tell them than make a rap video? Abed, who is Muslim, recognizes the intrigue people have with religion and wonders if he can create a new one just because (that gives you an idea of Abed’s personality). Check it out…

http://www.hulu.com/watch/187118/community-jesus-goes-viral

This clip is a solid reminder that the medium is the message. If Christians try to imitate culture and do a lame job, their message becomes associated with the quality of their work. In this case, Shirley tries to make a "Christian" rap, but something immensely more interesting is just outside. As humans, it is our nature to pursue the most intriguing option.

Christians often assume that poor quality is justified by the wonderful message they are offering. I'm sure you can think of a few examples...