Oh, Happy Day..

I'm not going to church today, but I watched this. Keep in mind these are white people. From Canada. Moreover, they're French-Canadian. Bearing that, I present to you: ssoouuuuuuuuulllllll.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a37bBm8pXSk&feature=related

The Proof Is in the...

About a month ago I found myself stuck in a frame of mind saying "Perhaps religion is indeed the opiate of the masses. And if so, a damn fine opiate it is." Maybe it's only as real as I believe it to be; if it's this personal faith that I claim it to be, there's no need for it to resound with anyone else. For some reason, I was OK with that line of thinking. Perhaps in some way I "tolerated" myself into tolerating my faith. Over the course of the last week, however, I've come to realize, see, and just flat-out believe that that's not good enough.

I do believe our God is personal, and our relationship with Him/Her is personal. And indeed faith can and very often does make otherwise intolerable circumstances bearable. But I've just become absolutely convicted that it's real.

Last weekend I went home to lead music at Discovery, a 48ish hour youth retreat, for the sixth consecutive year. I was unenthused, to say the least; it had become such a routine, and the circumstances were frustrating. I was piecing together a band, with no practice, and more importantly little concern to how good it was. But, as seems to so often be the case, everything fell into place. I don't think God did that for me, though; it almost seemed to be in spite of me, in spite of my lackluster attitude, until Saturday afternoon. My wonderful sister had decided that for "Mission Time" one of the 3 groups of tweens was going to the Magnolia House (a nursing home about a hundred yards away from the fellowship hall in which Discovery weekend is spent) to sing to and just generally be around old people. You know what singing means: James is going to lead music again. With this news, my already ebbed enthusiasm further waned.

I generally don't vibe well with the elderly. But after playing "Amazing Grace" with about twenty youths and fifteen people over 80, I was really enjoying myself. Then an elderly man very dear to my heart spoke up after a few minutes of conversation with, "Oh, do y'all do 'Amazing Grace'?" Right in the middle of Round 2 of perhaps the greatest song ever written, my heart completely melted. I'd come back home to a truth that I easily stray from in my daily dealings: My Jesus lives in music. It's what I'm supposed to do and where he always seems to find me, or I find him. I'm not sure which direction that flows.

Back to the universality point I began this rambling with. I absolutely cannot believe that human beings crafted "How Great Thou Art," "Because He Lives," and "Amazing Grace" on their own. There's just no way. Those songs, and countless others, are where my God constantly abides. He's everywhere, so I'm told, but that's my center. Many years ago I remember hearing someone say "If you find yourself farther away from God, guess who moved."

I'm very Methodist. We don't mention "Hell" much, or "the blood" much. Perhaps rightfully so. I buy into the goodness of Christ and his Grace being infinitely greater than any pain or suffering Hell could inflict, so we ought to moreso focus on the positives. But this phrase absolutely will not leave my little head:

"And when I think that God, his son not sparing

Send Him to die, I scarce can take it in.

That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin."

That's real.

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come

'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far, and Grace shall lead me home."

A person couldn't just sit down and say, "I'm gonna write a song for my opiate" and come up with that.

He. Is. Real.

And for that, my soul sings to my Savior, God, "How great thou art."

Love Song

First thing's first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aubjDJc07E

From about 2:30 til the end is possibly my favorite piece of music. It's so dynamic, well-made, and just flat out sonically gorgeous. Moving on....

I've been thinking recently (say, twelve minutes ago) about what I call God's "Theory of Originality." Paul writes in Galatians 5 and 6 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=galatians%205.25-6.10&version=MSG) about the importance of your life's uniqueness. My favorite bit is this:

"Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

I think the idea has the power to genuinely change lives; I know it's greatly affected mine. Just the notion of how comparing your being to another is futile is pretty awesome. The best I can figure it, we're all indescribably crafted individuals. Your parents don't meet, the womb's a little colder, you don't have some random experience when you're five, and your world can be altogether different. We're multifactorial creatures, to say the least. Why is that significant to this passage? Because God made, is making, and will ever make only one of you. At no space in time is there an exact replica. And because of that, we all have different capabilities, different weaknesses, different strengths, so to compare yourself to anyone else will always and forever be to weigh apples against oranges.

We have insecurities, we have shame, we have instances in which we never quite meet our or another's expectations. But as I'm keen to say, expectation is the root of all disappointment. I believe God's impression of us (if there is such a thing to the Creator who knows and is all) is in what we are doing at the present. The value in our lives is not to hit a standard, or meet an expectation, or be better than anyone who has been, is, or is to come; the most important thing we can do is to do what we can, where we are, with whom we're with. I don't think everything is relative; instead I propose that it's in varying absolutes. In any scenario your best remains your best. Five minutes later, things have changed and you are still capable of that best, though it may not match that of the situation prior.

In short, God made one of you, and he made you on purpose. The success of our life is not in achieving more than a little, or just short of a lot, but rather proving to be an enduring message and embodiment of love, hope, and grace. I thank God every day that besides being all of those things incarnate, he is also the creator of second chances. So even if I miss that first opportunity to do the creative best I can with my life, I exist in another one at that same moment. I guess you could say we're infinite in that respect, that we're perpetually in an opportunity. I think that through Grace, God allows that to be our reality, to exist every moment in an open window to try our best to be his likeness.

Super bad ass, if you ask me.

Just Dance...It's Gonna Be OK.

I talked for a long time about trusting God, about believing that everything that happens is exactly what's supposed to happen. The notion that the world was indeed perfectly synced to God's plan was comforting; mainly because everything was great. Fast forward to March 14, 2010, and for the first time, I'm buying it through trial.

I've never been in a group and not been the leader. Never been on a team and not been the captain. But now, I'm in the passenger seat of this Millennium Falcon called JMRB's life, and it's right. I have no idea what's going to become of my "career," my love life, or who I'll come home to in a year. But that's just the way it's supposed to be. The music's been cued up, and all I can do is dance to it.

I truly believe that God is Good. All the time. Not because He makes things easy, or because He gives James what he wants, but simply because He is who He says He is ($1 to Dr. Teddy Trost for teaching me the significance of "Ego Eimi"). I'm going to be just fine; the only thing I can do is to be an original, to make the creative best I can of my own life, and to let God shape that. Galatians 5 and 6 in The Message make me better; I thank Chrysalis for that tiny denim New Testament every time I think of it.

For the record, the blog title is simply a metaphor and an ode to Lady GaGa for making one of the catchiest records of all time. I do not dance literally; my soul is not expressed through rhythmic gyration. It's through bringing joy; joy that I know only because of the infinite Grace of Jesus Christ. So I'm gonna turn up this jam of existence and break it down. It's gonna be OK. And much more.

Love,
JMRB

Just biding my time 'til New Texas...

I'm going to keep this very brief.

I do not understand the political ideology of our welfare state. On moral grounds, it seems to be a given that the "haves" are not good enough people to be charitable on their own accord and thus must be stolen from in order to provide for the "have nots." But on the other hand, the "have-nots" are deserving of things they have not themselves earned. It almost seems to align a moral compass on individuals based on nothing more than their financial state.

I understand, my liberal friends, that since I'm a libertarian I could not possibly be Christian. I don't care about the poor or less fortunate, and I am a dirty and awful person for not supporting presently-proposed policy. That's why Jesus picked the Pharisees' pockets in order to pay the widow's Ambien bills, right?

I believe that when you earn something, it's yours. That's why the check has your name on it. It just seems so incredibly backwards and counter-productive to effectually steal from John to give to Jim. Of course Jim always supports that ideology; but, if John doesn't want Jim to get his money, how is that wrong? It's a personal choice. It's no more morally sound to steal one man's money than to let another starve. Sin's sin, right? There is no place for morality in government. Placing an evil man under a "good" regime does not make him "good." People skip out on taxes because they think the taxes are not fair. People ache about welfare, social security, mandated insurance, etc. because they think these institutions are wrong.

If a person wants to spend 100% of their gross pay, neglecting their future and the people who might benefit from their being taxed, so what? It's their choice. That's all I'm saying. If that same person chooses instead to save 25% of their gross in a 401k and donate 10% to a church, Salvation Army, Red Cross, etc., what's so wrong with that? It's not allowed either way. It just seems to me to be such an arrogant and ludicrous means of reasoning to say that you know how to better serve a person than they can serve themselves. Now, I'm sure that all rich people are greedy, hard-hearted, and self-seeking, and all poor people are good, loving, victims of bad situations. Of course.

Some people are victims in need of aid. Some people are wealthy pricks who couldn't care less about anyone else. But I've got to believe that some other folks are in bad scenarios because they screwed up, and others are in good spots because they worked hard. I'm not going to assign a morality or a level of goodness to any of them. All I'm saying is that I believe there are people out there who if they had more disposable income (because of a drastic cut-back in their wages' garnishings. Really, a "Department of Education"? ) that would be more than willing to donate their time, resources, and money to those who are truly in need.

Two generations ago, my family was composed entirely of farmers and sharecroppers. Eighty years later, we're reasonably well-educated, responsible citizens. And I'm going to make an offensive amount of money doing something. Without a cent of state money. And I'm going to give a lot of what I earn away. The sad part is, I'll do it whether I want to or not.

Reign in the Empire. Quit your thievery. Pass the fair tax. Experience economic, and dare I say, social, growth. Don't say I'm intolerant just because you won't tolerate me.

Peace.

"And when I'm gone, who will you blame?"

A lot has been made of the proposed health care overhaul, a measure many individuals see as providing basic rights for American citizens and other claim to be the denial of civil liberties. I will begin by saying I am firmly planted in opposition to this legislation, but instead of giving specifics of the bill I'd prefer to go on and speak on the bigger problem.

U.S. taxpayers currently finance an empire. It can be propagandized as providing safety and stability for Americans, promoting the common good for the world society, or any other of scores of pseudonyms, but at the end of the day the truth remains that United States is a nation stretched far beyond its borders and as a result, its means. I'll avoid the issue of The Fed authorizing the change in interest rate and subsequent printing of dollar upon dollar to control prices and debt, as that's another issue entirely. The matter at hand is that as a nation we are currently $11.4 trillion in the red. Let me put that another way: $11,400,000,000,000. That's practically an entire year of real GDP. A completely astronomical and unacceptable figure. And in the wake of an announced foreign policy of achieving peace and stability with our neighbors, we have military presence (troops) in 130 countries. Our military presence costs a trillion dollars per year to maintain. And this is being financed by the American public. How? Taxes, of course. The American people support this presence, our current federal government's actions, and all other manners of frivolities by our consent to pay taxes and never raise a protest. I'm not saying we shouldn't pay taxes, because there are certain things that can only be accomplished by some sort of national tax, but here's the more important question: Why have the American people accepted the growth of the federal government as progress?

American citizens and corporations are being taxed higher than ever before. And for what? The elections want our focus to go on $10 million pork-barrel projects, which are less than a drop in the proverbial bucket. The bulk of our taxation goes not to building bridges and parks (pork) but to funding bullshit departments like Education and Homeland Security. And raising taxes on our corporations to finance these atrocities does nothing to encourage American manufacturing. Why should it? When companies must cut costs to turn a profit because of regulation and taxation, do they have any incentive to offer benefits to their workers? Absolutely not. It's easy to blame the free market on our domestic issues, but that mistrust is simply pre-engineered hate pushed on the American public by government media outlets.

Before you say, "James, you're an anti-government anarchist who seeks to blame our problems on Washington," I'll say, "This is not my government."

We are not in danger. We are not helpless. But by playing off that mentality with which we have been inculcated the government is allowed to prosper and grow; our bureaucracy is exponentially larger than Constitutionally authorized. My personal opinion of why is that people who have government jobs want to keep their jobs, and to keep their jobs they provide their supporters with jobs. Makes sense, doesn't it? Feed the hand that feeds you. Meanwhile, we're shown the insignificant arguments of the day, what Ron Paul calls the "False Choices of American Politics." We do not know what's going on. For too long the American public has had the mentality of "Why should I do it if the government can instead? It saves me worry and I'm sure they'll do a good job. And even if they don't, it won't affect me." We're staring calamity in the face, my friends. Inflation is ballooning, Anti-American sentiment is still sky-high (thanks to our Team America: World Police mentality that is still prevalent, despite Savior Obama's reputation), and financial bubbles are being inflated constantly. There are government checks in place, because everything is regulated, but it would take unpopular decisions to fix these issues: reduced government programs, a fat-trimmed bureaucracy, tax cuts for manufacturing (global warming, OMG!), and the sense to stop printing money until we can stabilize the dollar's value. With those propositions would come decreased voter support and lost jobs for the friends of fat cats. So they have no incentive to make those changes. Just like American employers have no incentive to provide quality health insurance for their workers.

Change.

Easy Listening

As one raised on hard rock and the like, I've never found a great spot in my heart for soft rock/jazzy tunes. That all changed over the course of an eight-hour trans-Atlantic flight Saturday, when I discovered the brilliance of Norah Jones's debut record; it is the soundtrack for every rainy day I can remember. And with my documented attraction to talent, she is also getting very near topping Kelly Clarkson on my Dreamgirl scale.
Also, Fleetwood Mac is absolutely onederful. Thanks to VH1 Classic for showing a concert yesterday and making me realize that what Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks do is almost exactly what I'd love to spend the rest of my life pursuing.
And I must also mention the sheer euphony that is the newest record from The Fray. That's a band that I never gave much of a chance but realized (thanks to some encouraging from my dear friend JC) is pretty grand.

So there's my latest random musical indulgence. I've found honey for a thirsty soul. I'd love to somehow find a deep connection for this stuff to the Jesus or something, but honestly I just felt like giving props to three artists for whom I've gained about 500% more respect in the past twenty-four hours or so. In that vein, I'd love to say that besides making the kind of music that makes me feel like floating in a fish tank, they're also lyrically fantastic. I think my "artistry" might take a new turn soon. I'd like to make people feel cloudless with my music.

And also, I'm trying to be more like Jesus now. I've come to admire that man quite a bit. He did (and I assume continues to) love perfectly. I'm not sure what that is in my life, and I know it's an impossible goal to attain, but I figure if I try enough ways something worthwhile will stick. I'm just glad I don't have to be perfect anymore...I believe I'll give Grace a high-five one day. It's changed my life more than I would have let it in previous days; I just hope I don't come to view it too cheaply.

Love you. I think it would be awesome to live in such a fashion as I didn't have to say that.