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Prayers and Salvation

Jennifer et al,

Being the one who has been doing the praying for dear Tori, and that my
publicly affirming it offends thee, I shall now spout about it a bit.

First, I just want to make it clear that I do receive a great deal of
insight through and in spite of Tori's music.  And it is often dark.  So is
Revelation.  And I'm a believer in Christ.  By the mere fact that I am
Tori's greatest fan, I have sworn my allegiance to your assertion that art
is not meant to affirm and teach only through light or purely aesthetic
brushstrokes.

I like the way you put it in both Kafka's quote and  your statement:  "Art
provides a mirror to look at those urges, "good"  or "bad".  It abstracts
them from ourselves so that we can look at them a little more clearly."
Bravo.  I wholeheartedly agree.

I also quite appreciated pondering your insight about Tori:  "Yes, she walks
a line between light and dark.  Who doesn't?  I think that maybe she is just
a little more honest about it, by not hiding it away and pretending that it
doesn't exist."  That is convicting to me in many ways, Jennifer.  I shall
refer to that quote often.

What prompted me to pray for Tori, then?  First, just because I pray for
someone's salvation does not mean I am judging his or her soul.  I despise
any preaching that assumes the damnation of any specific person as much as
you do.  I know that I certainly cannot assume she is not saved.  I do not,
in fact.  But if she isn't, darn it, I'm going to be praying for her.

What I saw that night at Tori's concert for the Pele album disturbed me
deeply, because I did have some background reasons to be so.  I had followed
Tori through a few shows, I knew every lyric, I read every interview.  At no
time did I assume to know "who Tori really was."  In fact, I saw that it
might be all a media persona.  But I also had fallen in love with what I
perceived to be Tori's honesty and forthrightness.  She clearly writes some
of her songs as reflections of her personal life, and affirms such.
Accordingly, I assumed that her actions did somewhat dictate the state of
her self.

So I had seen Tori before, and this night I saw her, she just seemed
terribly disturbed and angry.  I became concerned.  I guess watching her
would just sound too strange in description.  Picture Jim Morrison during
his crash and burn period.  She was just--a disturbing image.  And I had
come to love Tori--at least the part of her that she displayed to the world.
In a very small way, I considered her a friend, relating to her on some
levels.  So I cried that night for her, because I sensed a great deal of
pain there in her heart.  And, yes, I prayed for her salvation, Jennifer.

Salvation, to me, refers to more than a heavenly one.  I prayed for her
earthly salvation even as much.  Even if she is saved in an eternal sense,
all the signals she was sending that night were at great odds with her being
in very great touch with that.  Could I have misread?  Could it have been an
act?  Could she have eaten some bad carrots that night?  Yes, yes, and
yes...  But what action can one ever take if one cannot trust one's eyes or
instincts?  And what wrong did my little prayer do?

If she isn't saved in an eternal sense, wouldn't it be better for me to have
prayed?

Jennifer, I would love to further discuss or debate my view of salvation
with you at any time, privately or publicly.  I do know that we have greatly
differing views on the subject.  Indeed, I tend to see salvation as not
something for "good people" or that is earned through works.  I tend instead
to believe that salvation is attained through belief.  As for works, good
ones come through having right faith; because one believes food will
nourish, one eats.  Faith is first for me.

Interested in chatting?  Write!

Sherry

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