Truth, Justice, and the American Way

My apologies, loyal readers. I took a vacation this week and didn't post anything. To make up for it, A Day In The Life Of An Average Guy (henceforth known as ADITLOAAG) will have not one, but two posts today. The first is serious, the second... not so much.

Let's begin.

One of my all-time favorite bands is Coheed and Cambria. They're an extremely interesting and talented group, and I highly recommend them. I enjoy their music for a variety of reasons; the backstory behind it, their distinctive sound, the melodies and rhythms. I was recently listening to a Coheed song called "When Skeletons Live", when one line of the lyrics struck me. It said, "The truth is relevant, but not for long." It really got me thinking a lot about truth, what we see as true, and what actually is true. Think about that statement a little bit. On the one hand, there are certain physical, inherent truths. Take gravity for instance. What comes up, must come down. It is the way that things are. It is true. Yet on the other hand, there are things that people have long believed to be true that turned out to be false (the concept of the Sun revolving around the Earth, for example). Now to bring it closer to home, in this day and age we are surrounded, permeated by, and bombarded with all sorts of "truths". Some are true, some are partly true, some are blatantly false. Think about the world of advertising. If every single ad that you saw on television or in a magazine portrayed the truth, companies would lose a ton of money on their products. Why? Because we as Americans don't want the truth. We'd rather have the "great American Dream". You know what I'm talking about: nice job, fast car, beautiful wife/handsome husband, two and a half kids, suburban house with a white picket fence. It's what everybody wants, right? We deserve it.

Or do we? Let me float a rather radical idea past you. We don't deserve much of anything. Actually, according to Bible, what we do deserve is death. So I think we should be thankful for not getting what we deserve. (but that's a different story).

Back to the main idea: life is not always handed to us on a silver platter. In order to discover what is true and what is false in this world, we have to have a standard to compare it to. Do you know how banks train tellers to find counterfeit money? They have them handle the real thing, over and over, until they can almost instantly tell the difference between a true bill and a false one. I propose that we take the same approach to life. In a world filled with half-truths and even outright lies, it can sometimes be a little hard to tell what is good and pure, and what isn't. Fortunately, we have a standard to compare everything to. God's Word. If you are a Christian, then you believe that every word printed in the Bible is inherently and unfailingly true. If that is correct, then we can take what we learn and read, and apply it to our daily lives. In order to find our way to the truth in this world, we need to spend time in God's Word. Read it. Pray about it. Think about it. Talk to people about it. The more time you spend in the truth, the easier it will become to spot what is false.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Today's food for thought is on a topic near and dear to my heart-music. Music has the unique and uncompromising ability to affect life (my life at least) in so many different areas. For example, how many people have had the urge to pump your fists in the air when you hear that unforgettable song on a hot summer's day? Or perhaps your whole day has been crushed after hearing a few stanzas of a simple tune, just because it reminds you of someone or something you'd rather not think about? On a brighter note, maybe you've felt your heart soar along with the lyrics of that one special song you shared with someone long ago. From a musician's standpoint, maybe you've felt that incredible sense of accomplishment and strength when you perfectly nail that really hard song that you've been trying to figure how to play for just about forever? Or perhaps the nervous butterflies-in-the-stomach right before you play or sing at your very first show.

Think about it. What is music? A collection of notes organized into a specific pattern, coordinating with other instruments and vocals? Is it a primeval urge to express ourselves? Simply a means of artistic endeavour? What is music?

To me, music is several things. Music is when I stand in front of a crowd, and simply let myself go. When I can feel the bass reverberate from my toes up my spine into my very brain. When I can see my hands playing, but I don't even know what notes or chords they're forming. When all I am is pure, joyous sound.

Maybe you've never experienced that. Maybe you've felt it, just the barest glimmerings on the edge of consciousness, the merest glimpse of something unspoken and unknown.

To me, music is when I realize that the song is over, when my fingers are chapped, or perhaps even bleeding, when my back is aching from the weight of the guitar, or when my wrists are numb from crashing cymbals. When I realize that I have no recollection of the past ten minutes, twenty minutes, two hours. When I acknowledge that there is no more music, no more sound, that I have to return to the real world of cars and politics and arguments and deadlines.

Music to me is something special, something unique. It's different for all of us. I've known people who have felt the hand of God through music. I know people who have wanted to end their life because of a song. Music is powerful, more so than most people realize. It has a strength and an intelligence all it's own. Regardless of genre, band, instrument, or record label, music has retained an indelible, yet almost invisible mark on all of us, whether in a large way or small. To me, there is no difference between a multi-million dollar rock concert and an eight-year old boy banging on a drum. Music is music.

Music is beautiful, and deadly. How many lives have been taken to a dark and lonely tune? How many children have been conceived to another? How many soldiers have listened to its ebb and flow before going to war? How many babies have fallen asleep to their mother's lullabies?

Music is a force, a power all its own. It can change things, for good or for worse. It can help heal, and it can be used to open existing wounds even further. It has the unique, and uncompromising ability to affect the very fabric of life itself.

How has music affected your life?