Hoobastank - Same Direction

Like "Judith" by A Perfect Circle, this is another song that I feel I have something to say about. Once again the lyrics are in bold and my comments are not bold.

"Same Direction" By Hoobastank

Whenever I step outside, somebody claims to see the light.
It seems to me that all of us have lost our patience.
'Cause everyone thinks they're right, and nobody thinks that there just might
be more than one road to our final destination.

Now, I agree, many or even all religions claim to have the way, the truth and the light. This is what makes it so difficult to decipher what is true and what is fallacy. However, truth is not relative. To even have the concept of truth means that such a thing exists. So we have two options here. Either no religions are right or one religion is right and the others that contradict are wrong. There may be some truth or goodness in each religion, but I beleive there is one true religion and one true God. I beleive this for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, what has been revealed to me in my heart and in my life through personal experience and unexplainable events. I know God exists because of the ways he spoken to me and the things he has done in my life that can only be explained through him. Secondly, unlike other religions there is a large amount of evidence for a) a creator, b) the existance of Jesus Christ and c) The divinity of Jesus Christ. Now, if Chrisianity is indeed true, that means that all other religions that contradict it are infact false. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the Light." For some references to the evidence of Christianity and Christ I recommend the following books:

The Case for Christ, The Case for a Creator and The Case for Faith all by Lee Strobel

More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Might I add, all three of these men were at one time Atheists who turned to God through logic and evidence. Yes, I may sound like just another person saying I have the truth, but I have reasons for saying so. I would encourage others to explore the evidence for themselves. The answers may suprise them.

But I'm not ever going to know if I'm right or wrong

It is true, that no one can be 100% sure if they are right or wrong until they die and see what is on the other side. This is where faith comes in. I beleive it was Pascal that said to an atheist, "If I'm wrong, I lose nothing. If you're wrong, you lose everything." Essentially, just because you beleive there is no way to know absolute truth or know if you indeed have the truth is not an excuse to not find it! I mean, that's just malarky. It's an excuse. If there was truth out there, wouldn't you want to find it? Wouldn't you think it was the most important thing you could know? Especially if your fate depended on it. At the very least you know that one religion claims if you do not profess it there are consequences, wouldn't you at least want to see if those claims are warranted and not just another tactic at earning adherents?

'cause we're all going in the same direction.

No, I'm afraid we are not all going in the same direction. Some of us are heading off to truth and some to fallacy. Some of us are heading to eternal life or to death. The only way we can all be heading in the same direction is if no religions are true and life ends in nothingness. I'm not willing to bet this is the case. It's too risky to do so. Besides, if that is all there is, what have I lost through having religion here on earth? Psychologists agree that religiousity acts as a buffer against adverse effects of the world.

And I'm not sure which way to go because all along
we've been going in the same direction.

Again, we are not all going in the same direction. A lot of people don't know where they are going, but I urge them to figure it out.

I'm tired of playing games, of looking for someone else to blame
for all the holes in answers that are clearly showing,
for something to fill the space. Was all of the time I spent a waste,
'Cause so many choices point the same way I was going?

I agree, let's stop playing games. This is your life. Your life. It's the most important thing you have. When I was younger I saw many "holes" in Christianity. I still remember the year I went to Camp Burton, a christian camp and was determined to undermine them, and refute their claims and expose them. I attacked Kyle Plett. I attacked him with accusations. I questioned the validity of Christianity, and ever claim I made, every attack I gave he refuted. I left that conversation feeling confused. That was a turning point for me. Slowly I began to see these "holes" were not holes at all. Once again, when you look at the evidence the holes dissapear.

(Chorus)

So why does there only have to be one correct philosophy?

Because there is truth. Truth exists, and all religions cannot be equally valid or true. They contradict each other. The very idea is preposterous. This leaves us with the conundrum of figuring out which one is correct. This does not mean sticking for the one that we like or feels comfortable, but the one that is correct, whether it be comfortable or not. "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end. If you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth - only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair." - C.S. Lewis "Mere Christianity"

I don't want to go and follow you just to end up like one of them.

I fought against being "one of them" too. Ironically, it was seeing people at camp so in love with God and feeling something I could not experience that prompted me to figure out the truth for myself, and I did and now I have what they had. I thought Christians were bigots, thought they were uneducated, thought they were boring. Now I am a Christian and I am not a bigot, I am not uneducated and I am not boring. Becoming a Christian does not mean surrendering who you are. You will change, God will change you, but the end result will be better than you ever expected. If I had to pick who I used to be and who I am now, I would definitley pick now. I am "one of them" I guess, but it's really not as bas as I imagined. At all.

And why are you always telling me what you want me to beleive?

Christians do not do this to be arrogant. We do not do it to be rude or overbearing. We do not intend to be intolerant. Here's is the thing: we beleive your life is on the line. We beleive that if you do not find the truth and you meet God you cannot be pardoned. You must accept the pardon that has been given to you. This pardon is for the sinful nature we all possess. All have sinned, Christians included, and we all are in a debt that cannot be repaid by good works. Your efforts at being a good person are worthless. We are all deserving of hell. Everyone. The only way we can be saved is if someone pays our debt. Jesus did this, he paid our debt. It's not important how it worked, but that it worked. However, we must accept the pardon that is waiting for each and every one of us. We do this by professing that Jesus Christ is our personal savior and beginning a relationship with God. Christians spread the gospel, evangalize, what have you because we love you. If you saw a person drowning would you not be inclined to at least try and save them? So it is with us, we love you. Please know, even if in the end you don't believe Christianity, please understand that our intentions are of good merit. We love you, and we want you to be safe and to know God. We want others to know the true happiness and unconditional love we know. This is why. It is out of love.

I'd like to think that I can go my own way and meet you in the end.
Go my own way and meet you in the end.

Again, if there is truth, then you cannot go against that truth. We cannot make up our own ways to solve math problems. We will still get the wrong answers. If a man does not beleive in gravity and walks off a bridge, he still falls and dies because gravity's existance is not affected by his beleif or disbelief in it. The truth is that there is a law and a circumstance in this world that we cannot escape. Ignoring it will not make it go away, we are still subject to it. I encourage people to take their own spiritual journeys. It is important that we search for God in the way that will lead to our own faith and not someone else's, but it is more important that we come to the correct conclusion. We should all keep striving to make sure beyond a reasonable doubt that we are correct. You cannot go your own way. You must have God. He can not be cut out of the equation.

A Perfect Circle - Judith

I really like the sound of this song, I like how A Perfect Circle sounds, but I really cannot condone these lyics, and they sort of break my heart. I thought I should respond to it. The Lyrics are bold, and what I am saying is not bold.

"Judith"
By A Perfect Circle


You're such an inspiration for the ways
That I'll never ever choose to be

there was a time I would have agreed with this. When I was younger I looked at the things about the church I didn't like. I thought I could never be like those "Christians" I didn't want to be boring. I thought the tithing (passing around the bucket for money) was awful. I thought they were just trying to make money. Now I see, especially since the church I went to in Seattle couldn't even afford to pay the pastor, that this was not the case. I agree, some televangalists are a bit questionable, but your everyday churches are not making money. It's just a ridiculous accusation. Another thing that I remember upsetting me was reading this article is I think it was "Christian Reader" about how this pastor "got through to the goths". At this point, I considered myself gothic and so it really offended me and I thought it was so stupid, but now I see that USUALLY what comes along with being a true "goth" is drugs and depression. The article was a bit ignorant, but it doesn't bug me so much anymore. As far as Christians being boring - okay so I don't drink, I don't make out with random boys. Those things were not good for me, and I don't miss them (Well, okay, sometimes I wish I could just make out honestly) but for the most part I don't want to do those things anymore. Besides I have way more fun now that isn't detrimental now then I ever did before. I mean, come on, I wouldn't consider myself a boring person. Would any of you see me that way. So I would say now that upright Christians are the inspiration for what I want to be, and I hope to be an inspiration for others.

Oh so many ways for me to show you
How the savior has abandoned you

this is part of my testimony, but there was a time I felt that God had abandoned me. All of this stuff kept coming at me I couldn't control. I was cutting, drinking, smoking, doing anything to nullify the pain. I was lost, alone, desolate. I figured God was just passing me by. Letting it happen to me. I told myself he didn't love me. It was the worst feeling ever. This is what I know now. God never once abandoned me. I can see times in my life when I flat out denied him that he was protecting me, carrying me, and when I did call out to him, he did come and reveal himself. He never once abandoned me, and he never has abandoned you. We have abandoned him, and how I felt thinking he had done that to me, is how we feels as we abandon him. He loves you, he loves us all, and he is waiting for us to reach for him. These lines are lies. God has never abandoned us. Ever.

F*ck your God
Your Lord and your Christ
He did this
Took all you had and
Left you this way
Still you pray, you never stray
Never taste of the fruit
You never thought to question why

I have had a lot of crappy things happen to me. Pain I never deserved. Pain no one deserved. I entered adolescene very broken and was only broken more. Many times I screamed out asking God why he was doing this to me? Why did he allow it? I blamed him, I hated him. I called him a "sick f**k". I thought he was sadistic and I told him I hated him. In my heart I meant it. I truly beleived in my heart that he had done this to me, and now I see this wasn't true either. God gave us free will. Unfortunatley we get hurt through it. God does not always allow things to happen, we should stop blaming everything bad on him. God was watching out for me. Sin did those things to me. Not God. This may be a hard concept for a non-christian to grasp, but it is true. Besides, the worst thing that has ever happened to me God changed into the most wonderful thing. It is quite personal, but I am not opposed to telling those who ask, however I don't feel comfortable posting it on here. My point is that God is not doing anything bad to anyone. Stop blaming him. Furthermore, since I have become a Christian it hasn't been all roses and sunshine. This is still a sinful world I live in and I hurt myself, as well am hurt by others. I posted that I was afraid of the pain that was coming in my livejournal once, and someone anonymously asked, "Where's your God now?" He was there with me. Waiting for me to pray and draw near to him so he could comfort me. This past year was the hardest yet since becoming a Christian, but I got though it with no cutting, no drinking, nothing of that sort. I got through it by blessing God's name and leaning on him. He carried me though it, and I was able to cry when I needed to cry and laugh at other times. For the most part, I would say I was still happy and he protected me from depression. My faith is not blind. I have questioned. It was attacked this year and even in spiritual sickness, the Lord took care of me.

It's not like you killed someone
It's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side
Praise the one who left you
Broken down and paralyzed
He did it all for you
He did it all for you

I did kill someone. I killed Jesus. Every sin I've ever commited is a thorn in his brow, a nail in his hand. It was because of my sins that he died. All of our sins hung him on that cross, but we are forgiven. In Christ we are made righteous again. So it doesn't matter what sins I've commited (not to say we shouldn't sin). I'm forgiven. However, even small sins are as big a trespass against God as murder. They are still hurtful to us and the Lord. So I will praise the one who stuck by my side. The one who picked me up and healed me. He did it for me, that's right. Christ could have left us in desolation, he could have left us with no hope to heal our sins, but he didn't. Because he loved us he chose to bear that shame himself.

Oh so many many ways for me to show you
How your dogma has abandoned you
Pray to your Christ, to your god
Never taste of the fruit
Never stray, never break
Never---choke on a lie
Even though he's the one who did this to you
You never thought to question why

I don't know where this is coming from, but my dogma has not abandoned me. I think he thinks that Christians don't sin and don't doubt and don't stray. That is not true. That is lie he is choking on. I sin daily now and I always will. The only difference is that I sin less and less as I become closer and closer to Christ, the only difference is that I am forgiven for the ones I've commited thus far and will commit in the future. I do doubt. Last year was an extreme period of spiritual sickness and doubt for me. My faith was heavily attacked and I strayed. I messed up a lot, and created a huge mess I can't clean up on my own. A mess that tears me up inside because of how it has affected others, but the only lie I ever choked on was that God wasn't there, didn't care, and couldn't clean up my mess.

Not like you killed someone
It's Not like you drove a spiteful spear into his side
Talk to Jesus Christ
As if he knows the reasons why
He did it all for you
Did it all for you
He did it all for you

This song really breaks my heart. I wonder why this man feels this way? What happened to him to make him so angry at God? What lies has he been told? I want to diasabuse him of it all. I want to show him the misconceptions he holds. One time when I was working at kinkos someone had brought in a cd jacket to be copied. It had lyrics in them and one was talking about God had stabbed him in the back and it broke my heart. I know the feeling, I know the midset, but it simply isn't true. It's hard to explain fully, but I'm saying that God has plans not to harm you, but to give you a purpose, a future and all of his love (somewhere in Jeremiah is this verse that I paraphrased). God has never abandoned or stabbed in the back. These are things he has done to us. The truth is that there is another entitiy that hates us and will stab us in the back, and that entity is Satan, but God is stronger than Satan and he will be defeated, and under God's protection he cannot penetrate so easily, but you must ask for that protection, you must keep your own guard up. God is not the ememy, Satan and sin are. Please know that God loves you and this whole song is a sad lie.

exercise

I worked out yesterday for the first time in like 6 months. I was doing really good last summer, going to the gym every day, and then I went back to school, got busy and got lazy. I did some leg exercises and I ran. I ran for 12 minutes. Now, I used to not be able to run for 5, and the most I could do last summer was 10. I just wanted to keep going. I wanted to know that I could do it. My right knee was locking up and by the end I was limp running, and my knee is why I stopped, I could have kept running, but man it felt good to accomplish that goal. Now my legs are just really really sore.

umm......

This is the most ridiculous logic I've ever heard. I am not directly quoting, but this is what this guy from skeptic magazine said:

"Miracles are by definition a one time event that cannot be repeated. In science we find out things are real by repeating them in experiments. Miracles cannot be repeated and are therefore not real."


Again that's my memory of what he said in the few minutes since I heard him say it, but that was his logic. Okay, that makes no sense. Because something can't be repeated doesn't mean its not real. Memories cannot be repeated, does that mean they aren't real? November 21, 1913 cannot be repeated, does that mean it didn't happen? Does anyone see the logic in this?

In Addendum

I think I should take a page out of Chris' book and do 10 of some exercise I don't like, like *disgusted voice* lunges.... ewww.... every time I judge someone or pick at a scab. I find myself judging others way more than I should and I want to wean myself of that behavior, and picking my scabs in a really bad habit that makes me look like I'm diseased when really I just have month old mosquito bites cause I can't leave them alone! Well, I'm off to watch a movie, maybe a girly one cause I'm in a soppy (thanks Chris for your australian words) mood.

Friends

This was an emo blog about how I feel like I don't have close friends and I never have, but this blog is not going to be where a whine and complain about the bad things in my life. Afterall I am luckier than a lot of other people. At least I even have some sort of friends. So since I can't delete this blog (unless someone can tell me how) I will just explain why it is blank.

Love

I feel like I have far too much love to give. I was at work today with the foster kids I work with. I realize that even though I have worked there for only a month, I really do love all those kids. I have this extreme need to show them the love they haven't received. I want to take them in my arms and cradle them. I want to tell them they are safe. I want to protect them. I find more and more I have this mother hen streak in me. One of the kids has a problems with "accidents" so he has to wear pull ups. We went swimming today and we didn't have a swim pull up, so he couldn't swim. Another older kid told him that he just needed to work on his "problem" and what was he gonna do when he got older and wanted a girlfriend. I told him to stop scolding him because that "problem" couldn't really be helped. More so, it touched a nerve in me. Not to long ago, one of my friends said I could never go to France because I wouldn't be able to eat. That really hurt me. It was saying to me, that I had control over my struggle, and that I could turn it off if I wanted to, but chose not to. I felt like this is what the older kid was saying to the other. That he could stop having accidents if he wanted, and it made me feel very protective because I could see the shame in his face. Maybe it's because I feel I didn't have anyone to protect me, so I feel I must protect others. Before we went to the pool we stopped at a playground at the high school I went to. Two college girls were sitting on the ground, and as we passed I smelled cigarette smoke. I wanted to yell at them for doing that in a public place where children go. Later as we got gas some guy came up blasting rap music and that made me mad that he was blasting music that was most likely inappropriate where children could hear. I suppose since I had so many bad things happen to me as a child and I lived in such a gray world of sin, I want to protect these kids so that they don't have to grow up like that. I long to protect all children and people from Satan. I feel I would give my very life to free the lost. I am afraid of death, but if a gunman came into my work and threatened those kids, I know I would protect them with all I had. I feel like the mother of the world, wanting to take away everyone's pain and protect them. Perhaps I am too compassionate for my own good. I guess I just have too much love to give.