So it is mid-afternoon on December 31st, 2013. I have some different thoughts about this past year and the next. Here they are:
1.Facebook has a Year in Review feature that looks over all the things you have posted over the past year. I checked it out and honestly have no idea if I am encouraged or saddened by my Facebook activity.
2. I am not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. One reason is because I seem to always break them rather quickly. The more important reason is that if there is something in your mind, heart, lunchbox, whatever, that you need to change, you should change it now. I get the whole idea behind it, a new year, new habits, but I think if we take charge and handle the issue now, we aren't treating it like something on daily checklist to mark off, we are treating it like it a real life thing that matters. This is doubley true for spiritual issues.
3. While I just said I don't really go in for New Year's resolutions, here are some things I suggest trying.
-Add the following phrases into everyday conversation: 'Not in my dojo!' 'Bow to your sensei!' 'It has begun-You are the Chosen One.'
4. The year 2013 was a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For some it was full of joyous events, a veritable sheetcake of victory. For others it was just something to be survived, full of sorrow and disappointment. If 2013 was good for you, remember that it was God who made it this way and that He is source of all good and perfect things. If 2013 was anything but good, remember that God weeps with us in our despair and is as near or far as you allow Him to be.
God's Blessing be upon you as say goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014. I am praying for the best and eagerly anticipating whatever God has for me this year. I suggest you do the same.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
I Am Not Sure What to Call This, but It's About Bad Christmas Songs.
So as the Christmas season is nearly over, I feel the need to get my lazy brains a' popping and share some thoughts. Now I think we all know that there are some bad Christmas songs out there. 'Rudolph' and 'Frosty' are devoid of any real meaning, but I don't care about those and pretty much avoid them. We all know that 'Santa Baby' is creepy (Santa Baby, my voice sounds like a UTI!) and the radio station should be changed immediately-if the buttons don't work fast enough, punch the stereo as hard as you can.
These are not the songs that I want to talk about. I want to talk about those tearjerker story songs that have become popular recently, both in the Christian and secular worlds. First, of course, I must mention 'The Christmas Shoes'. I don't want to mention 'The Christmas Shoes'; I want to forget it exists. I want it to never have existed in the first place. I. Hate. The. Christmas. Shoes.
In case you have not heard the song, seen the music video or the two (maybe three?) TV movies based on the song, 'The Christmas Shoes' is the story of a man who is standing in line at a store, days before Christmas, and is just not feeling the Spirit of the Season. Maybe it's the commercialism, the fast pace, or maybe the nagging feeling that he's about to end up in a crappy song; we don't really find out and it doesn't really matter. As he nears the front of the line, our haggard narrator encounters a little boy straight outta Dickens, a dirty little waif who doesn't have enough money to make his purchase: an inexpensive pair of shiny shoes for his mother. He wants them so badly because his mother is suffering from a terminal illness and wants her to have something nice to wear when she meets Jesus, which is probably going to take place in the next 25-30 minutes. Moved by the boy's plight, the narrator pays the rest of the amount; the sad little wretch runs off into the night and our narrator goes on to pat himself on the back harder than anyone has ever patted themselves on the back before.
Many people, Christian and non, have torn this song apart. Christian blogger, author, speaker, and part-time frozen yogurt chef Jon Acuff has written many anti-Christmas Shoes posts. Standup comedian Patton Oswalt has a hilarious but foul 10 minute tirade about this song, which includes a line about God not being able to stand someone being bummed out on His son's birthday, resulting in Him giving the boy's mom cancer to readjust the narrator's attitude. Lots of people dislike this song.
A new unfavorite Christmas tune of mine is 'Where's the Line to See Jesus?' Once again somebody doesn't have the right attitude about Christmas, and once again a random little boy saves the day, although this one hasn't been digging change out of the storm sewer to buy shoes. Our narrator is a woman this time, and as she is shopping for all those goodies she encounters a long line of kids waiting to see Santa Claus. From out of thin air comes a child who asks where the line to see Jesus is, because it's his birthday but nobody is paying attention to him.
As the narrator stops to ponder 'this message profound', the little boy vanishes into thin air, almost as fast as this song should have. The woman moves on about her day; she walks past a mission for the homeless and from the corner of her eye she catches that same little ghost child in line. Of course, when she turns back, he is gone, like my patience for this song.
Finally, she finds herself in front of one of those semi-lifesized light up plastic manger scenes and she stares at it contemplatively for roughly 4.5 seconds before the vanishing child ghost comes to visit her once more. This time, he is clearly pleased with her, because staring at a Nativity scene is clearly the same thing as having your heart in the right place. (I realize I am describing the music video; it helps to hit home the crappiness of this song)
So I have exhaustively described these two songs. I have told you I hate them. Here is why: I understand that the authors probably wanted to do something good and get people in a proper frame of mind but unfortunately fell short of their mark. In 'The Christmas Shoes' the narrator says that he believes God brought that boy into his life to remind him of Heaven's perfect love, which sounds nice but is entirely self-serving. So Mr. Narrator, you helped buy some inexpensive shoes for this little boy who desperately needs so much more, and that reminds you of 'Heaven's perfect love'? I say, maybe God brought this child into your life so you could reflect His love, which you immediately screwed up and then congratulated yourself. You didn't even offer him a ride to the hospital. It's like scoring the winning goal for the other team and then going out for pizza to celebrate.
The lady from 'Where's the Line to See Jesus?' does even less. When creepy ghost child asks the titular question, instead of being dumbfounded, she could have explained that we don't need to get in line to see Jesus, because he wants to live in our hearts and will if we let him. That way he is with us always. With a renewed focus on the true meaning of Christmas, the narrator calls her husband to say that she wants to return some of the gifts she bought today and give the money to a local homeless ministry, and maybe they could spend some time there on Christmas Day. When she happens upon a Nativity scene outside, she thanks God for the way that He helped realign her priorites and asks Him to forgive her for looking at the wrong things.
I realize that I am being pretty judgmental, but I think these songs are bad because they still encourage me to focus on me during the Christmas season. I gave to someone, now I feel good about myself. I took a moment to focus on the Reason for the Season; go me! They lack substancial content, like a bag of chips that is mostly air. They are designed to get an emotional reaction but do not encourage any sort of change. Material like this winds up being a sort of spiritual masturbation; it's all about me, feels good for a time, but ultimately lacks any sort of real satisfaction.
I would probably care less about these songs if they weren't everywhere and enjoyed by so many people. 'The Christmas Shoes' inspired multiple TV movies, and went viral before going viral was even a thing. A very similar thing has happened with 'Where's the Line'. The only thing more viral was the Bubonic Plague.
I do not believe that Christians should turn on each other, be devisive, or hurtful. This was pretty heavy handed. I think we as God's Children can do a better job and need to quit making squishy feel good sap like this. God deserves better. Yup, heavy handed.
These are not the songs that I want to talk about. I want to talk about those tearjerker story songs that have become popular recently, both in the Christian and secular worlds. First, of course, I must mention 'The Christmas Shoes'. I don't want to mention 'The Christmas Shoes'; I want to forget it exists. I want it to never have existed in the first place. I. Hate. The. Christmas. Shoes.
In case you have not heard the song, seen the music video or the two (maybe three?) TV movies based on the song, 'The Christmas Shoes' is the story of a man who is standing in line at a store, days before Christmas, and is just not feeling the Spirit of the Season. Maybe it's the commercialism, the fast pace, or maybe the nagging feeling that he's about to end up in a crappy song; we don't really find out and it doesn't really matter. As he nears the front of the line, our haggard narrator encounters a little boy straight outta Dickens, a dirty little waif who doesn't have enough money to make his purchase: an inexpensive pair of shiny shoes for his mother. He wants them so badly because his mother is suffering from a terminal illness and wants her to have something nice to wear when she meets Jesus, which is probably going to take place in the next 25-30 minutes. Moved by the boy's plight, the narrator pays the rest of the amount; the sad little wretch runs off into the night and our narrator goes on to pat himself on the back harder than anyone has ever patted themselves on the back before.
Many people, Christian and non, have torn this song apart. Christian blogger, author, speaker, and part-time frozen yogurt chef Jon Acuff has written many anti-Christmas Shoes posts. Standup comedian Patton Oswalt has a hilarious but foul 10 minute tirade about this song, which includes a line about God not being able to stand someone being bummed out on His son's birthday, resulting in Him giving the boy's mom cancer to readjust the narrator's attitude. Lots of people dislike this song.
A new unfavorite Christmas tune of mine is 'Where's the Line to See Jesus?' Once again somebody doesn't have the right attitude about Christmas, and once again a random little boy saves the day, although this one hasn't been digging change out of the storm sewer to buy shoes. Our narrator is a woman this time, and as she is shopping for all those goodies she encounters a long line of kids waiting to see Santa Claus. From out of thin air comes a child who asks where the line to see Jesus is, because it's his birthday but nobody is paying attention to him.
As the narrator stops to ponder 'this message profound', the little boy vanishes into thin air, almost as fast as this song should have. The woman moves on about her day; she walks past a mission for the homeless and from the corner of her eye she catches that same little ghost child in line. Of course, when she turns back, he is gone, like my patience for this song.
Finally, she finds herself in front of one of those semi-lifesized light up plastic manger scenes and she stares at it contemplatively for roughly 4.5 seconds before the vanishing child ghost comes to visit her once more. This time, he is clearly pleased with her, because staring at a Nativity scene is clearly the same thing as having your heart in the right place. (I realize I am describing the music video; it helps to hit home the crappiness of this song)
So I have exhaustively described these two songs. I have told you I hate them. Here is why: I understand that the authors probably wanted to do something good and get people in a proper frame of mind but unfortunately fell short of their mark. In 'The Christmas Shoes' the narrator says that he believes God brought that boy into his life to remind him of Heaven's perfect love, which sounds nice but is entirely self-serving. So Mr. Narrator, you helped buy some inexpensive shoes for this little boy who desperately needs so much more, and that reminds you of 'Heaven's perfect love'? I say, maybe God brought this child into your life so you could reflect His love, which you immediately screwed up and then congratulated yourself. You didn't even offer him a ride to the hospital. It's like scoring the winning goal for the other team and then going out for pizza to celebrate.
The lady from 'Where's the Line to See Jesus?' does even less. When creepy ghost child asks the titular question, instead of being dumbfounded, she could have explained that we don't need to get in line to see Jesus, because he wants to live in our hearts and will if we let him. That way he is with us always. With a renewed focus on the true meaning of Christmas, the narrator calls her husband to say that she wants to return some of the gifts she bought today and give the money to a local homeless ministry, and maybe they could spend some time there on Christmas Day. When she happens upon a Nativity scene outside, she thanks God for the way that He helped realign her priorites and asks Him to forgive her for looking at the wrong things.
I realize that I am being pretty judgmental, but I think these songs are bad because they still encourage me to focus on me during the Christmas season. I gave to someone, now I feel good about myself. I took a moment to focus on the Reason for the Season; go me! They lack substancial content, like a bag of chips that is mostly air. They are designed to get an emotional reaction but do not encourage any sort of change. Material like this winds up being a sort of spiritual masturbation; it's all about me, feels good for a time, but ultimately lacks any sort of real satisfaction.
I would probably care less about these songs if they weren't everywhere and enjoyed by so many people. 'The Christmas Shoes' inspired multiple TV movies, and went viral before going viral was even a thing. A very similar thing has happened with 'Where's the Line'. The only thing more viral was the Bubonic Plague.
I do not believe that Christians should turn on each other, be devisive, or hurtful. This was pretty heavy handed. I think we as God's Children can do a better job and need to quit making squishy feel good sap like this. God deserves better. Yup, heavy handed.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Breaking Silence, Making Apologies
It has one year and ten days since I have last written anything in this blog. If you have read this in the past, you know that I did not post every day; at my best I was good for a few times a week. As time went on, I would post less and less frequently, then stopping altogether.
I have been meaning to write this for sometime to give an explanation of what happened. I started this blog (crud, I used the blog word again) because I felt I had something to say that could be of value. If anything I have written in the past has encouraged you, made you laugh, made you think about something in a new way, or just gave you something to read that wasn't about Kim Kardashian, then it was worth it and I am honored to have blessed you in some way.
That wasn't the only reason I wrote, however. I had ideas swirling around my brain for years but never did anything with them. Basically the reason I actually started writing stuff down was because I wanted to impress a woman I was interested in at the time. I think good things have come from me writing, but my motives were wrong and I am sorry for that. Partly because I grew dissatisfied with what I was doing and partly because my girl catching strategy failed, I wrote less and less until I just stopped.
So, I am going to keep writing. I do not know how frequently or if anyone will read it, but I think it is still worthwhile. I also encourage you to do things for the right reasons. God can and will use us in our brokenness and failure, but doing good things for the wrong reasons hurts you and the Body of Christ. Farewell for now, Karl Domogalla
I have been meaning to write this for sometime to give an explanation of what happened. I started this blog (crud, I used the blog word again) because I felt I had something to say that could be of value. If anything I have written in the past has encouraged you, made you laugh, made you think about something in a new way, or just gave you something to read that wasn't about Kim Kardashian, then it was worth it and I am honored to have blessed you in some way.
That wasn't the only reason I wrote, however. I had ideas swirling around my brain for years but never did anything with them. Basically the reason I actually started writing stuff down was because I wanted to impress a woman I was interested in at the time. I think good things have come from me writing, but my motives were wrong and I am sorry for that. Partly because I grew dissatisfied with what I was doing and partly because my girl catching strategy failed, I wrote less and less until I just stopped.
So, I am going to keep writing. I do not know how frequently or if anyone will read it, but I think it is still worthwhile. I also encourage you to do things for the right reasons. God can and will use us in our brokenness and failure, but doing good things for the wrong reasons hurts you and the Body of Christ. Farewell for now, Karl Domogalla
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