chasing the sun

Yes, I know I haven’t posted a real blog in months(?), but I just haven’t felt inspired. I feel like I am always writing about the same things and that makes me sad and tired.

You don’t want to read anymore about my unresolved frustrations, do you?

Right, so instead I am going to pose a question to which I hope to receive at least a dozen responses.

What do you think of the phrase “Bible-based”?

I have heard this phrase used and abused and annoyingly championed as the only determiner of whether or not a program will be successful or whether or not something or someone is Godly.

Do other religions propagandize their holy scriptures the way Christians do?

Do they insert random verses (usually taken out of context) into their everyday conversation? Or into their political speeches?

I was watching a special on the History Channel about the Koran and how it developed. Did you know that Mohammed only ever said he was a prophet? He only ever claimed to be a messenger of God – never divine? But the Koran special got me thinking about how I view the Bible – about what I think the Bible is. Is it a story about God? Is it his direct, divine revelation and truly void of errors like evangelical theologians say. Is it “God’s Little Instruction Book?”

I hate how much of what Christians do is defended by someone who champion’s his cause as being biblical. If you have a biblical foundation or reason for doing something, then its okay and you may proceed.

Should we even have to defend our actions if they are right?

I’m still not sure what I think about the Bible. I wasn’t there when all those guys wrote their letters – or when the early church fathers were deciding which of those letters and stories were canonical and which were unnecessary for the spiritual growth of believers. I believe it contains truth, but other books contain truth – truth that is universally accepted.

But how do I know what is true? That is the conflict.

Do you see it?

How can I say something is true or untrue unless I have a rule or measure to determine truth? And what is my rule or measure?

Revealed truth?

Revealed where? You ask. The Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita???

It seems to me that when you accept Christianity, you are putting your faith in a person, not in a book. But then you do have to put your faith in a book, because for every hundred people attesting to the absolute inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible, there are a hundred discrediting it and tearing it into small, microscopic pieces. When you accept a religion as true, you are accepting its scriptures (if it has them) as true.

So defending anything by saying it is biblical is just as subjective and biased as saying something is the God’s honest truth. What are you actually saying? Only that the morality you’ve accepted as true and the scriptures you read and believe are true tell you that something is right or wrong.

Maybe it is better to say that something is right or wrong – to stand firm in the truth you accept and live in such a way that others can see it is true for you and can be true for them too.

Or maybe I am going straight to hell for thinking all of this.

You tell me.

You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself in another part of the world
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself; Well...How did I get here?

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground

You may ask yourself
How do I work this?
You may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
You may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
You may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground

Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was... Same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
UNDER the waterCarry the water
Remove the water from the bottom of the ocean

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
INTO THE SILENT WATER
UNDER THE ROCKS AND STONES
THERE IS WATER UNDERGROUND

Time isn't holding us
Time isn't after us


Once in a Lifetime
-Talking Heads