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looking for truth in the sofa cushions and broken pipes

jnf said:

>But let's say Mr. Manson writes the world's best
>song -- brilliantly structured, with a killer hook, and satisfying to
the
>musical ear -- but it's thematically depraved.  I'm not going to listen
to
>that, either.  Stand up for what you believe in.  Don't applaud the
Pretty
>Hate Machine because it's pretty?!  It's still a hate machine.

Agreed.  When I suggested that MM might create a great song, I was
including in the definition of "great" that the song would not be
thematically depraved.  So you're right,  and your clarification is
appreciated.  I think we might be able to quibble quite a bit about just
what "thematically depraved" would mean, but I'm a-leavin' that to
someone else . . . .

>The world's message is deceitful and a lie.  That's not solid food--
it's
>poison.

One of our sort of community theme/belief statements at Taylor U when I
was there was, "All truth is God's truth."  I'm not sure who we're
talking about when we talk about "the world" like this.  If it's the
devil, then, yes, the world's message is deceitful and a lie.  But if
it's misled people, then the world's message is not necessarily deceitful
and a lie.  I've realized lately that I no longer feel the need to
identify entirely with the singer or writer of a piece of art.  Andy
Partridge (of XTC, folks) has some serious problems, no doubt.  And if I
were to hear "Hey, God" and identify one-to-one with the anger of the
narrator of that song, then I would be in the worng.  But when I hear
"Hey, God," I hear confusion and frustration and disappointment and
worldly hurting; and I can feel sorrow for this sorrowful character.  The
world (this time I mean people, not Satan) strikes out in confusion. 
"Hey, God," when I hear it this way, is a disturbing song, but
emotionally insightful--not as a guide for me but as a window on what so
many feel.  I identify with the narrator enough to understand his
emotional state; I resist identification enough to realize he is
thrashing about in darkness, not light.  In that sort of listening, I can
see the truth of a world hurting and the lies that makes it hurt; and the
truth that is there is God's, even if it's said by an
atheist/agnostic/whatever.

That's my take these days, anyhow.  Thought I'd drop it in . . . 

Be well today,

Fred