maybe idolatry isn’t all that bad after all?

 

I’ve begun to think that maybe we desperately need to have an idol? … and a ‘physical’ one at that

… that maybe we’ve created “God” in our own image to substantiate and justify our very subjective world views … that we participate in institutionalized religious activities primarily to abate our own insecurities? … to try shift our shaky and subjective views as far away from their desperate subjectivity as possible by joining together with others who seem to share our beliefs … or at least a fairly similar perspective?  …joining together with others who seem to affirm the views and values we hope are true, … those who encourage us and make us feel good about ourselves and our frail choices… the ones we really never chose for ourselves, but that which we picked up from our own social and cultural contexts?

… and that maybe we are indeed profoundly frail … and that possibly we know deep down that our perspective is merely guess work at best

… but this is so extremely frightening for us, … some unmentionable

so we flock together…

just in case?

… and that it’s not really worship of God we seek to participate in and be part of, … but rather a grasping to hopefully obtain a sense our own ‘worth-ship’? .. as we stumble about, trying to make sense of our existence and the meaning of it all

 

… but maybe it’s all ok?

maybe God’s not so upset about this?

 

maybe God really is omniscient?

who amongst us would have guessed that?

and maybe God’s okay with it because at least we are searching … and hopefully asking questions?

 

and hopefully this is true?

 

… can I get an ‘amen’?

and/or or not

we watched and studied others like flies on a wall … and not having a life of our own we found directionlessness in the vicarious apparition before us and this we celebrated as reality … it’s not that the indecision was emphatic, it was more that the next steps were backwards… so, not satisfied with an unlimited imagination we ventured headlong into the game of deceptive charades

 

and/or or not

 

so, not satisfied with an unlimited imagination we ventured headlong into the game of deceptive charades … it’s not that the indecision was emphatic, it was more that the next steps were backwards… so we watched and studied others like flies on a wall … and not having a life of our own we found directionlessness in the vicarious apparition before us and this we celebrated as reality

what we really meme about truth

Recently I have been having discussions with some about the way we think and act. More specifically about the easy access we have to immeasurable data juxtaposed to the apparent lack of original, individual thought and action. I was expressing my frustration over what I see as the prevalence of mindless ‘groupthink’ in almost every dimension of our lives and especially the way on social interactive media that we flood our lives with glossy, full colour photo-shopped memes with warm-fuzzy quotes from “famous” people and at best, superficially regurgitated opinions of others… with very little, if any well constructed personal thought or individual perspective

Maybe the scientific revolution with the dominance of all its legal referencing and quoting of prior research publications to substantiate a claim has unwittingly muddied the waters of honest, open and free debate irreparably? Religion especially has seemingly fallen prey to this modus operandi where sermons and arguments are substantiated on “established” quotes and opinions of others (doctrine, dogma) rather than well thought out individual perspective. Even universally known scriptural text references seem to have lost some of their accuracy and sometimes even relevance if not accompanied by a literary ‘topographic grid-reference’ (John 3:16) and even if a concept is rephrased in normal, contemporary English it is often barely understood and most often rejected.

One response I got in the midst of this complex discussion was a colourful picture of our planet posted on my wall with an artistic rendition of a surrounding communication network graphically superimposed over the circumference of the globe.

Underneath was the meme: “We are all connected. One world, one love!” (a very common anthem in our day)

The person who posted this seemed to feel this meme would “piss me off” and they wrote as much in an accompanying comment to the meme.

My reply was as follows:

… I seem to have perhaps hit a bit of a nerve, … and yes, we are all connected, we are all one, as you suggest, one love, yes, indeed… but these ideas sound so appealing until we really begin to understand them …
in reality if we are so very “one” then we are so “one” that we are also “one hate” and if we all share as one in all things it stands to reason that in our universal oneness we also rush along towards a shared fate, … together…
… and of these and many other memes we seem to love to speak so evangelistically over ourselves and others … what are we really trying to say? … or are we perhaps shouting louder and louder lest our real voice is heard?

Perhaps it is true that none of us really seek for truth, … we seek only for those ideas and contexts which confirm our preconceived ideas …

… wide and narrow are the two ways, as they say …
and few and many are the responses to this journey… one man’s meat is another mans poison, but we all eat from the same banquet…
… indeed, we are one, absolutely one, inextricably one…
…and so we invent ideas about a ‘heaven’ and a ‘hell’ to position ourselves more favourably

nevertheless, as we the multitudes say, we are indeed all one … an inconvenient truth, … or a reassuring lie?

within or without

a powerful understanding amongst many is that of there being a “heaven” waiting for the faithful and obedient …

a glorious realm out there where a personified God dwells in all power, perfection, peace and presence

… a place that is reserved for those who are the faithful and obedient down here on earth…

however, as with all things there is always more than one angle to it all and in this instance a powerful statement is also made, …

“people will not say, ‘here it is,’ or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you”

it seems reasonable that this heaven is not somewhere else but actually inside us … not “out there” somewhere but “in here” somewhere… very close indeed

and perhaps not necessarily a physical place, but more a perception, … a tangible concept… a consuming state of awareness … a reality that stems from within … which flows up and outwards … perhaps like rivers of living waters?

an equally powerful understanding amongst many is that of there being a “hell” waiting for the unfaithful and disobedient …

some realm of eternal torment out there where personified evil dwells in all vulgar violation, violence and degradation

… a place reserved for those who are the unfaithful and disobedient down here on earth

… and perhaps not necessarily a physical place, but more a perception, … a tangible concept…

and as with all things there is always more than one angle to it all…

 

so it appears that there are these two opposites, heaven and hell

…two different places?

or perhaps two different ends of the same string?

 

… could it not be equally true that the kingdom of hell is within us…?

gagging on gaga

she’s in our country doing her thing at the moment and there’s great commotion this way and that about all that’s happening…

but in reality Gaga may just be far less controversial than we make her out to be?

it well may be that she is merely a representative of the vain plasticity of the world we have created… and maybe she’s no more or less ‘righteous’ than anyone of us?
perhaps when we hate her we judge ourselves in our own hypocrisy…

and when we love her we also judge ourselves in our  addiction to superficiality, mediocrity and vanity?
… more alarmingly maybe we are her and she is us?

and maybe that’s why we love to hate her and we hate to love her… and all other ‘popular’ persona

after all, in the end it’s all about us … you and me… and perhaps we deserve her and she deserves us?

are we able to consider that possibly the only reason she exists is because we give her life and we sustain her present and ongoing dominance in our consciousness?

could it be that we need her as much as she needs us?

and maybe Gaga is not alone?

… there’s the Zuma’s, Malema’s, Obama’s (and virtually every politician and pop celebrity there ever was and ever will be), social, cultural and religious leaders …

… and of course, then there’s you and me

not being seen to be seen

For about a month now we’ve been playing a Sunday night jazz gig at a Strip Club in our fair city that operates as such during the week Monday through Saturday.  The club owner simply wanted to get some extra business going and seized upon the idea of a jazz evening (sans the damsels) for his Sunday evenings.
What has really amazed and amused me are the comments and concerns I have heard (seemingly almost louder than the sound of the jazz itself) … and this almost exclusively from the religious set.  Chatting with a few courageous customers who have risked the eternal public scorn I was intrigued to hear how the religiously minded were clearly burdened by great concerns of being seen going in and coming out of the venue … and this especially on a Sunday.

Being a sincere follower of Jesus Christ myself I was very amused and intrigued as Jesus was recorded in the gospels as being criticised and eventually killed for being a friend of the outcasts and the so called unsavoury elements of society.  This is even more alarming as even now we hear passionate preaching on the high, even supreme  importance of reaching out to the sinful and “lost” of our society.

One of my recent Facebook status updates inspired by this fascinating experience went like this:

“One of the great things about playing a jazz gig at a strip club on a Sunday evening is that there are no strippers named “Swirly” “Good Breasts” and “More See” swinging along simultaneously to thongs like Lip Zipalong’s “The Gallows Pole” Bonny Jovi’s “Living on a Pole” and Paula Slide-On’s “Slip Sliding Away” etc. … so, even if you don’t really like jazz you can nevertheless be totally absorbed by imagining there is a buxom female artiste undoing her thing… let’s face it … the swaying is true that “boobies are in the eyes of the beer holder.” ”

https://www.facebook.com/alalohwhydee/posts/10151255002993164?ref=notif&notif_t=like

an “I” for an “I”

our heritage

… where have we come from?

… where are we right now?

…and where are we going to from here?

is it in any way reasonable to assume one can initiate healing and effectively shake off the devastating effects of generations of abuse by legislating the self same abusive acts as the historically abusive perpetrators once committed?

what results can one expect if the previous victims of abuse are legally granted the inalienable right to perpetrate the exact same abuse as they themselves historically suffered, and this allegedly in order to access restoration and healing?

it has been suggested that to do the same thing over again and expecting to get a different result is a sure indication of insanity

maybe the braaing of  ”boere” wors as a collective national act on heritage day is the real “state of the nation” keynote address?… unwittingly endorsed by all

… and could this indeed be a tragically succinct declaration of our real national heritage leaking out unintentionally and being exposed and publicised for all to see?

as wrong and undeniably evil as the previous system of legislated abuse was, have we lost sight of the chillingly scary idea that an eye for an eye can only result in all becoming blind?

celebrity rapists?

Gus Silber (@gussilber) tweeted this last weekend – “Samsung have survived & thrived through mimicry; Nokia & RIM have failed by being themselves” bit.ly/MTsaIA

- is this to be the epitaph on the grave stone of modern music?… revealing that as an “industry” it has survived & thrived through mimicry and the pursuit of materialistic gain … with artistic integrity, authentic creativity and originality having all failed by being themselves?

and what about “worship” music and the religious gospel music “industry” which seems to follow these same materialistic trends in a vain attempt to be more “relevant”… what will its epitaph read?

… and what about these “IDOLS” type shows?

… what part have they played in the wholesale rape of authentic art and the dignity of ethnic cultures and their authentic art? … and all for the sake of materialistic gain

… and what about these “celebrities” who steer this cancerous rape of art and culture by sitting on the sensationalist and manipulative judging panels just to further their own careers … what will their epitaphs reveal?

… and what about us? … what will be our legacy? … we who watch and applaud like perverted voyeurs as this cultural and artisit rape happens before our very eyes?

pass the spittoon, please

 

the constant quoting of others and the re-posting of popular pictorial memes on social networks and even in every day life is like eating out of the public refuse bins at popular toxic eateries like McDonald’s and KFC et al

… and if we are amongst those who believe that we are spiritually devout and adhere formally or informally to some belief system that has established sacred texts in public circulation I would also like to boldly suggest that the constant quotation of these sacred memes and principles falls into the exact same category

… and perhaps especially the ‘Christian’ fraternity (and I count myself amongst them) and our holy writings

… who mostly seem to claim that our belief system is not a dead and legalistic religious order like all the others … but instead is a living relational dynamic with a ‘personal’ infinitely creative and active God as the originator and sustainer of all things…

 

we ‘Christians’ … perhaps more so than most others need to consider that even the respectful verbatim quoting of the so called ‘new testament’ grace and freedom saturated biblical texts is as ‘legalistic’ as any other so called legalistic and controlling religious order we so often enjoy ‘exposing’ and ‘dissing’…

 

… an original thought is not such a bad idea‎… in fact, it’s never a bad idea

 

… indeed,  it could well be the highest act of worship and honour we can offer to our creator

… to allow the personal life-giving transformational presence and flow of divine power to cascade, even to explode through us in uniquely creative thought and deed, not hindered by literally incarcerated statutes, memes and man-made theology and doctrine, but ignited by the very presence of a supreme and ever present creator …who by all perceivable accounts excels in extravagant freedom and boundless creativity…

…seemingly never doing the same thing twice…

 

there are no perfectly straight lines in nature…

… the only straight lines are the ones we have drawn ourselves to try connect the dots, so to speak

…and drag the infinite and spectacular majesty of life into our very insignificant and limited dimension of time and space

 

we should cook and eat at home

and as we all seem to know … home is where the heart is…

… not on the pages of some glossy periodical

 

 

the challenge

the biggest challenge our children (and indeed the nation at large) face today is learning civility, moral conduct, sound leadership, basic dignity and respect and even elementary communication skills… without ever seeing any displayed.

 

the emperors parade naked before us all yet demand respect and submission