Saturday, May 19, 2007

Dr. JP Moreland has recently written a new book called The Kingdom Triangle. I have not read it yet but I have heard some very good reviews since its release. Here is a link to Dr. J.P. Moreland giving a sermon at his church, talking about his new book. Dr. Moreland himself calls it, "the most important book I have ever written." He presents some seemingly practical and yet very difficult ideas. After hearing his sermon, I am even more eager to read it for myself!

For a more in depth review check out this blog.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Music and Me Part II

To conclude this mini two part series, I thought I would share some of what I have learned from not listening to music.

At work, I work alone. As far as I can tell, nobody supervises me (except for when they come to check my work when I am not there) and therefore have quite a lot of time to myself. A couple of months ago, when I first heard about what my job would entail, I immediately thanked God for the invention of the Ipod! The first couple of weeks I did the cool teenage thing....I stuck headphones in my ears and listened to music throughout the work day. However, I soon became bored with the same ol' tunes over and over again and thought, "Certainly, I would benefit from books on tape!" And so I did. I listened to Paradise Lost, The Hobbit, Shakespeare, Of Mice and Men etc.

However, during this time, I had been talking with some friends about some of the trends of our culture; one of them was how we seclude ourselves from reality and from other people through recent technology. This of course brought up Ipods and the constant distraction they offer from ourselves and from other people. The observation finally hit home that day I was in the book store and the kid in front of me never removed his headphones as he paid for his item.

The next day at work I decided to leave the ipod in the car and venture to hang out with God and myself.

I suddenly became aware (in the strictest since of the word) of my thoughts and how they roam. They roamed not only amongst themselves but through my emotions and feelings untamed. I could not maintain any continuous thought pattern much less pray. It felt as if I were following a toddler around telling him, "don't touch that!" or "put that down!" My sanity seemed to be fleeting as I desperately tried to maintain control! What appeared to be my identity became more and more ambiguous.

Of course, it was during this time that I asked myself, "Why?" Why should I continue to put myself through this? Isn't music a good thing? Why should I deprive myself of it?

To start with the second question; music is a good thing. It is so good in fact that even Plato considered it to be one of the highest forms of art. When somebody plays a piano piece, they must pour into it their knowledge of theory as well as their passions/emotions. Their head (the knowledge) must be just as proactive in the process of creating the music as their heart (the passions). The result is a manifestation of some of the deepest human experiences one can offer. In so doing, music does affect/influence its listener in some way or another. However, music has turned into such an outlet for emotion that artists no longer have to know the structure of scales and chord patterns but merely need to have strong emotions. Because of this, music that is creative and requires both thought and feeling has been diminishing. It is by no means extinct but stereotypically one mostly meets elderly people at the community opera house. To allow music only to affect your emotions is BAD, because a lot of music has bad emotions! Thus to only allow music entrance into your emotions, can result in a fake perception of the song itself and reality (i.e. Love).

On the other hand (the hand I tend to be guilty of), is to over analyze the music to the point that it has no affect on your emotions at all. Suddenly it becomes a thought project instead of an experience. Certainly I am keeping myself safe from the pitfalls of being overly emotional but now it has become detrimental. I become entirely separate from the music itself and I am incapable of experiencing the part of reality the composer is relaying. Although I may understand the mechanics of the music and perhaps the message the music is relaying; I cannot come to understand it holistically. What do I mean by that? Well, for example; there is a difference between understanding who a person is on paper (i.e. eye color, hair color, likes and dislikes etc.) and knowing the person. There is a distinct personality within each person that cannot be extracted through the analysis of their chemical make up. In the same way, music cannot be known solely through intellectual endeavors but also through experience of the music itself.

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest! However, you might be wondering what this has to do with refusing to listen to music for the past month or so. And rightly do you wonder! My answer is this; that through the constant noise we surround ourselves we become too much head or heart. We are so fragmented, that when we are finally forced to put together both our intellect and our passions it appears to be nearly impossible. However, if we continue to live as if we were one or the other the manifestation (our hands) results in an unprofitable and dissatisfying life.

Thursday, May 10, 2007