Sing it Out

I have a habit of listening to songs and hearing things that I want them to mean rather than what they really mean. Its annoying sometimes because when I find out what songs are really about I usually don't like the truth. I like my own little private world where things mean what I want them to. For instance, the Backstreet Boys have a song called “Larger Than Life,” and I never really cared to know what it was about when I was in middle-school and Backstreet Boys were the bees-knees. However, I recently found their Millennium album for 99 cents and decided to buy it. Here are a few of the lyrics:

All you people can't you see, can't you see
How your love's affecting our reality
Every time we're down
You can make it right
And that makes you larger than life

All of your time spent keeps us alive

The song is clearly about all of the Backstreet Boys' fans...all 1,000,000 of those screaming 12 year old girls...however, in my little world I replaced “All you people” with “Oh my God”....so now it reads a little more like this:

Oh my God can't You see, can't You see

How Your love's affecting our reality

Every time we're down

You can make it right

And that makes You larger than life

All of Your time spent keeps us alive

I know...I'm cheesy. But that's just how my brain works. I like to see things from a different view. I see, hear, smell, taste things in a different way because I know the Who behind the sights, smells, and tastes of the world. I give Him the credit even when the credit wasn't originally given to Him. However, there are some songs that are just hard to not see a dual meaning. I think Paul is right in saying, “...since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20). I think that not only does everyone feel at their core that there is a God, but that whether they mean to or not they sing about Him; they create works of art about Him.

Here's where I'm headed: I heard a song titled, “Sing” by a band called My Chemical Romance...and to be honest I'm not sure what they're talking about—here are the lyrics:

Sing it out,
Boy, you got to see what tomorrow brings.
Sing it out,
Girl, you got to be what tomorrow needs.

For every time.
That they want to count you out,
Use your voice,
every single time you open up your mouth.

Sing it for the boys,
Sing it for the girls,
Every time that you lose it sing it for the world.
Sing it from the heart,
Sing it till you're nuts,
Sing it out for the ones that'll hate your guts.
Sing it for the deaf,
Sing it for the blind,
Sing about everyone that you left behind.
Sing it for the world,
Sing it for the world.

Sing it out,
Boy, they're gonna sell what tomorrow needs
Sing it out,
Girl, they're gonna kill what tomorrow brings

You've got to make a choice,
If the music drowns you out.
And raise your voice,
Every single time they try and shut your mouth.

Sing it for the boys,
Sing it for the girls,
Every time that you lose it sing it for the world.
Sing it from the heart,
Sing it till you're nuts,
Sing it out for the ones that'll hate your guts.
Sing it for the deaf,
Sing it for the blind,
Sing about everyone that you left behind.
Sing it for the world,
Sing it for the world.


Cleaned-up corporation progress,
Dying in the process.
Children that can talk about it,
Living on the webways.
People moving sideways,
Sell it till your last days.
Buy yourself the motivation,
Generation nothing.
Nothing but a dead scene,
Product of a white dream.
I am not the singer that you wanted,

but a dancer.
I refuse to answer,
Talk about the past,
Sir and wrote it for the ones who want to get away.


Keep running!

Sing it for the boys,
Sing it for the girls,
Every time that you lose it sing it for the world.
Sing it from the heart,
Sing it till you're nuts,
Sing it out for the ones that'll hate your guts.
Sing it for the deaf,
Sing it for the blind,
Sing about everyone that you left behind.
Sing it for the world,
Sing it for the world.

You've got to see what tomorrow brings!
Sing it for the world,
Sing it for the world.
Yeah, you've got to be what tomorrow needs!
Sing it for the world,
Sing it for the world.

It makes me wonder what they're supposed to be singing about. It makes me wonder why they should sing at all. I don't know what they're singing about, but I certainly have something to sing about.

I feel like a nerd, but there are a lot of Scriptures that come to mind when I hear this song...Psalm 145 speaks about praising God and His works, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts.” On and on it goes speaking about what God has done-- “Sing it out, girl you got to be what tomorrow needs...”. I think of Jesus warning us that we too would be hated, “All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22)--”For every time that they want to count you out. Use your voice every single time, you open up your mouth.”

I think My Chemical Romance unwittingly gave me an anthem. Without meaning to they have encouraged me beyond measure. I want to sing of what God has done. Sing it for the boys, sing it for the girls, every time I'm losing, I will sing it to the world. To the deaf and to the blind, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor!”(Luke 7:22) I want to sing it from the heart, sing it till I'm nuts, until this world hates my guts. I want to dance in the streets like David and proclaim Christ. When the noise of this world tries to drown me out I will sing all the louder. When people try to shut my mouth I will only be encouraged more, because it is to those that are trying to shut me up that I sing. I sing it for the world. I sing it for the ones I left behind. For those who are lost.

So....we're supposed to sing it out. What are you singing out? What are you singing about to the deaf, blind, dead, and dying? Here is what I'm singing:

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in His sanctuary;

praise Him in His mighty heavens.

Praise Him for His acts of power;

praise Him for His surpassing greatness.

Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet,

praise Him with the harp and lyre,

praise Him with the strings and flute,

praise Him with the clash of symbals,

praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

~Psalm 150~

Christ is Lord.

Amen.

Searching for Fear and Finding Shelter

I’ve always been enthralled by storms. There’s something about the drop in pressure, the winds blowing in from the distance carrying the icy temperatures from the mountains--the brilliant flash of light in the distance followed by a low rumble. There’s power in storms and to stand in a high place, facing the wind and feeling the raw force pushing me, along with the electric feel in the air brings a joy and unexplainable comfort. There is something stronger than me out there. There is someone stronger than me behind the wind.

***

The storm had snuck up on us. While we’d been watching clouds form up on the horizon, rising like an atomic bomb had gone off in the distance, more clouds had approached us from behind. The winds had been present all afternoon, but their sudden absence warned us of the impending danger. The thunder finally told us where to look, and by that point it was too late. We were going to get wet.
As soon as we realized our situation we sent the campers down the mountain and started to pack up. Kylee and I raced each other pulling the ropes to the top of the rock face just like we did usually did, but this time a small element of fear spurred us on too. She won. Typical. The winds picked up again just as suddenly as they had stopped but this time there was an icy edge to them that cut to the bone. Shortly after the cutting wind picked up, great drops of rain pelted down sporadically from the heavens; a warning of what was to come.
We scrambled down from the top of the Rock, a cliff 120 feet high that we‘d rappel kids off of. Steve was waiting eagerly with the packs. I tossed the ropes I’d carried from the top to him and started wrapping the guideline.
I had my back to the storm. My hat was threatening to fly off of my head because of the wind and I could feel as much as see the lightning striking more and more frequently around me.
“Look behind you.” Steve said through the whirlwind. “That wall of water is going to hit us in about 30 seconds. Wrap fast!” I did wrap fast. “Faster Palmer! Pick up the pace Olson!” his voice had a smile behind it as if the fact that we could be struck by lightning were a pleasant prospect. Oddly enough I could share in his excitement, and when I looked behind me to see the white sheet of water pushing its way towards me I smiled too. The water reached us about 30 seconds later, just like Steve had predicted. I finished stuffing the ropes into the pack and then flinched as the water and wind lashed about me.
“God is big!” I yelled above the winds. Then a white flash blinded me as lightning struck in the distance. I tossed the 40 pound pack down to Kylee and she caught it while the wind and water started to plaster her hair to her face. Steve looked up at Kylee and I and gave a howl. We both followed suit, Kylee sounding like a wolf, and started our way down the slippery mountain pass.
The rock wall was on our right as we traveled down the mountain, and it blocked most of the wind and rain. Actually, at this point of the hike down it was relatively calm. Of course we knew this wasn’t the truth of the matter; thunder could be heard every few seconds, and the water rising to about our ankles reminded us that we were very much in the middle of a storm. But, the wind wasn’t beating on us at the moment and we were able to talk to each other as we shuffled carefully down the trail.
“See guys. I told you it happens quick.” Steve said. “Now you’ve got a story to tell!” Somehow he still found this experience to be funny. A brilliant flash turned my sight to white and a fraction of a second later a crackling blast echoed through my eardrums. I didn’t think this experience was that funny. In fact, I had never been so scared in my life.

***

They say that fear is the beginning of knowledge. More specifically, the fear of the Lord.
There are only a few times in my life that I can truly say I’ve been scared, or experienced fear; Like the time I walked away from my mom’s cart in the grocery store, probably distracted by some flashy flier trying to sell me vitamins. All I did was let go of my mom’s cart and walk off, but when I realized I’d been separated I just freaked out and screamed at the top of my little 5 year old lungs and cried. My mom was one aisle over and started laughing because she’d been watching the whole time. Or there was the time when I was 7 years old fishing with my dad. I was a big boy and went to the bathroom all by myself…in the port-a-potty. When I closed the door it locked…and when I couldn’t get the door unlocked, I screamed…well, who wouldn’t get scared when stuck in a port-a-potty. My dad rushed over thinking I’d fallen in and pried open the door. I felt stupid afterwards…but I can’t tell you of a time that I truly feared the Lord.
There are four Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of them records Jesus’ resurrection. Matthew ends with the two Marys praising God, grabbing Jesus’feet, and worshipping him. Luke’s account shows Mary, Mary, and Joanna going to the tomb and finding it empty. They go tell the disciples and no one believes them. John ends with Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene and telling her not to be sad. She complies and tells all the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”.
What gets me is the ending of the resurrection scene in Mark. Its different than all the rest. In this account they don’t see Jesus; only a man in white…probably an angel. He tells them not to be alarmed and to go tell the disciples what they have seen. Instead of going out and telling everyone, “I have seen the Lord!” It says, “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Mark 16:8. I’ve always been puzzled by that. What does that even mean? Jesus was alive…yet they ran in fear. According to Proverbs this is the beginning of knowledge.

***

“Alright. Here in about 10 seconds we aren’t going to be protected by the Rock anymore. Make sure you keep good footing, have your hands free, and go slow. Fluid motions guys.” Steve’s advice reached Kylee and I, and as we rounded a turn in the trail, we saw the wall of water reappear in front of us. That’s where the Rock ended.

***

So I started thinking about what made those women run from the tomb that day. Why did they run away? And then I remembered Psalm 29, and how it describes God like a storm, and it clicked. If Jesus was alive, it meant that He had successfully faced the Almighty storm of God’s wrath and come back to tell about it. That meant that Jesus was everything He claimed to be: The Son of God. That meant that the Marys had been in the very presence of God and survived. He was stronger than the storm of death. That is truly frightening to think of.

C.S. Lewis says it well when he speaks of Aslan wrestling with Lucy:

It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia; and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind. And the funny thing was that when all three finally lay together panting in the sun the girls no longer felt in the least tired or hungry or thirsty.
“And now,” said Aslan presently, “to business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears.”
And they did. And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it. And they saw all the trees in front of him bend before the blast of his roaring as grass bends in a meadow before the wind.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Chapter 15

God is the storm…and He is the one who faced the storm. He is the one who blocked the wind and rain. He is God Almighty, and it is frightening to hear Him roar. The Mary’s were scared because they realized that they had been keeping company with the storm-maker and the Rock that blocks the storm the whole time.

I think I understand their reaction now, and have a little insight into what Proverbs talks about when it says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. I know who is behind the wind, and I know who blocks me from it--they are one and the same.

The Starbucks Chronicles: I Smell Funny

Lately I find that all of my hoodies and jackets have a very….distinct aroma about them. Every time I put one on, no matter where I go, or which hoodie I choose, the same smell greets me. I think it may be because of the places I frequent most often…or perhaps its just the way I smell now…being that I not only am surrounded at these places by this scent, but the source from which the scent exudes, I also put into my body…I feel like my good buddy Zach Sanchez explains this recent aroma-phenomenon well in his poem, “My Lifelong Love”:

An aroma beckons me like the song of angels from the heavens
A vision of pure seduction, dark velvet, smooth and truly dreamy
A touch so hot it’s almost intrusive, but oh so desirable
The thought, the desire, the crave, the addiction needing satisfaction
I hold a pleasurable prison almost painful in perfection
I cannot go on without, without finding myself going crazy
I find myself going crazy because I cannot go on without
What a delicious, wonderful, terrifying substance this coffee is



So I like coffee. And I go to Starbucks quite often. What can I say? I drink so much coffee that if you cut me I swear I’d bleed the Christmas Blend. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or if I’m pitiful…either way, coffee is what I smell like. I don’t know, perhaps it’s the taste. Maybe it’s the smell…or it may even be the general atmosphere of a coffee shop. Everyone there is so cool and trendy--beanie wearing, flannel-sporting, book-reading, music-listening people frequent the place…and the paintings on the walls are…trendy as well. The dim lights, the warm feel, the pleasant smell, all surround the place and make me happy. So I go there a lot.

However, something pretty amazing has been happening ever since I’ve moved back to Albuquerque and started religiously going to Starbucks to read my bible…people have come up to me and talked to me about Jesus more than ever. I’ve talked to believers, atheists, agnostics, confused people that think they know Christianity, Wiccans, and the list goes on.
Actually, the Wiccan lady was probably the most interesting…she asked me what I was reading--the words “Holy Bible” must not have given it away--or maybe she was just trying to get conversation out of me…either way I told her I was reading God’s Word. She told me that she thought any old manuscript held value and was timeless…and I simply agreed that with the Bible this was most definitely true, and that its wisdom can be read time and again because it is we that change not the Bible…and also, its God’s word…to which she told me that she wasn’t a Christian, but she did agree that it was us who changed, not the text. Naturally, my next question was, “Well…can I ask, what are you then?” And without missing a beat she told me she was a witch.

Now…normally people avoid being called a witch, and I think perhaps she wanted to see my reaction by saying something so blatantly, but luckily I didn’t even react, except to say, “Oh. That’s cool.” I mean, seriously…what are you supposed to say to that? She told me that my beliefs and her beliefs were the same…I smiled, but on the inside I was saying “Nuh-uh!”. She said that Wiccans worship the feminine aspects of God and nature and that its all about, “the feel and the magic of everything.” And I couldn’t help but think of Romans 1:25:

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather that the Creator--who is forever praised, Amen.”

So, while she was talking I was trying to sneakily turn to Colossians 1, because there it just talks about all the created things were made through, by, and for Christ, and that I didn’t see the point of bypassing the Creator for created things…thus worshiping nature and, “the magic” seemed silly….but my bible-turning was less than ninja-like and she told me that she had to go. Of course. I bid her a good day, (how British of me) and then told her we should talk again later.

But it got me wondering why people were so suddenly interested in talking to me. It just seemed curious to me that almost every time I go into Starbucks to read, that someone asks me what I’m reading, or what I think about this or that….and I read this passage the other day, and it hit me:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” ~2 Corinthians 2:14-16

I read that and realized that just like my hoodie smells like coffee because of the ridiculous amount of time I spend in Starbucks, that I smell like Jesus the more time I spend with Him. And people notice. Just like when I smell cookies I go to the kitchen to investigate. Or when someone smells death they go to see where its coming from. I smell like Jesus. So I’m going to continue to go to Starbucks to read my bible, and try to update on the adventures I have there. They shall be called, “The Starbucks Chronicles”. And I hope that I go so much that they become familiar with the smell. And now, whenever I put on my hoodie and smell coffee I can smile and know that I smell like Jesus.