Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts

I first heard this song last summer on the show So You Think You Can Dance, which was the first debut of it and how the song has gained such popularity up to now. Ever since I heard it I couldn't stop listening to it. And once the music video came out I got it on iTunes right away.

Christina Perri has a gorgeous voice and the passion she sings with in this song is inspiring. You can't help but feel the emotion and the hurt that she has experienced and is communicating in this song.

Personally, this song has had a pretty big impact on me, not because it motivated me to do anything different or because it changed some aspect of my thinking, but this song gave my heart a voice. Maybe that sounds cheesy or shallow, but just because a song makes it on Ryan Seacrest's Top 40 Countdown doesn't mean it's dumb or bad music or that liking it means you lack musical depth and/or that you are a shallow person.

This song almost completely encapsulates my life experiences. Some of the lyrics that mean the most to me in this song are:

"And who do you think you are?

Runnin' around leaving scars
collecting your jar of hearts
Tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are"

"It took so long just to feel alright
Remember how to put back the light in my eyes
I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed
'Cause you broke all your promises"

The chorus, which is the whole first quotation, is so powerful and her voice is so strong in these lines. I can't help but feel the same things that she is expressing.

And the second set of quotations from the song, those words are the one's that resound strongest in me. It did take a long long time just to feel alright, and I wish we would have never kissed. That was a bit of self-disclosure, but you need to know how much this song means to me and how personal it is.

Theologically, thinking about it, it was hard to see any theology in her lyrics. I do see that there are themes of staying out of unhealthy relationships, that according to Perri's music video, she got her "heart back" in the end... I think this song represents well, along with the music video, that Perri also learned to protect her heart better in the future. As Christian's we are to only give our heart's fully to Him until and only if we get married.

I love this song.

Manic for the Superbowl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwclLUcTF3E

This commercial probably doesn't show the norm of how most people view the Superbowl. In reality who would miss their child's, grandchild's or any other close relative's birth for a football game? But obviously, based on the six other men Visa is highlighting in there series of Superbowl commercials, there are some and possibly many more than we know, who take professional football that seriously.
The question I want to ask is; how have these skewed value's affected families? I'm not saying that the NFL is responsible for the rate of divorce and broken families, but I think it's a pretty significant sign of the moral status of our nation when a man, or even a few men are willing to miss weddings for a football game that happens every year, just so they can say they've never missed a game.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe there's something I'm missing in this wonderful game of football, but I don't think a new life being born or the union of two people is something to be missed for a game. Maybe this commercial does show the reality of what our country values--the union of marriage is less important and not as serious of a commitment as going to a professional football game every year, instead of being married, keeping a promise that lasts forever, once made.
You can disagree, maybe this is a long shot comparison. But when I first saw this commercial it genuinely made me sad. Sad for our country, sad for that man and sad for his family.

Horton Hears a....Heart Beat?

The real title of this popular kids book turned movie is, of course, Horton Hears a Who. But I am bringing to the table a not so subtle theme I have seen in the movie. The central quote throughout this book/movie is: "a person's a person no matter how small". The book by Dr. Seuss was written in 1954, exactly 20 years before Roe vs. Wade, so Seuss most likely didn't write the book in an attempt to counter abortion. And in 2008 Horton made it to the theaters; and this is the Horton that I want to focus on. 

Abortion is a significant issue in American culture, many say they are pro-choice and they believe a fetus is not a living baby until sometimes three months, two months, four months after conception. Pro-lifers (myself included) believe life begins the moment of conception. I believe both of the views are clearly shown in Horton Hears a Who; Sour Kangaroo is clearly depicted as a Feminist that doesn't believe there is life on the spec (or no life at conception) and Horton, who can hear the Who's with his huge elephant ears, he believes that there are live beings living on the spec (life at conception). Kangaroo is adamant at getting everyone else in the jungle to believe, along with her, that Horton is a menace for thinking such things and even goes after him and the clover, that's holding the spec of life.

In the end Horton has been beaten up and caged by the other jungle folks, until finally the spec is heard by Kangaroos son. And everyone finally believes Horton and all of the Who's in Whoville are saved. Even the hard and proud Kangaroo in the end believes. 

Obviously in our world today, there are plenty, if not most, who still believe that abortion is an okay option and that there is no life in a fetus before this or that age, but the rest of the movie shows a fairly accurate picture of what it can be like for a pro-life individual living in America today. You can disagree with me about the meaning of this movie, or even some of the claims I've made, but what does "a person's a person, no matter how small" mean to you?

My First Cultural Artifact Post...

So, I'm not exactly sure what our syllabus means by "cultural artifact", but I'm assuming it has to be from a time before me, and has to have had some kind of significant influence on culture. Unfortunately, for me, I'm not very cultured when it comes to music and movies. So, I'm finding it very hard to come up with anything to write about.
Since I can't think of slash don't have a movie or song or TV show at the moment, I'm going to talk a little bit about a controversial book, at least it is in the Christian culture; The Shack. I won't try and make anyone guess, so I'm just going to say it, I absolutely love this book. I just finished reading it tonight and it was the fourth or fifth time doing so.
I've heard many Christians' arguments against this book, I have debated with a couple different people about the book, who hadn't even ever read it; they had just heard about different aspects and illustrations in it from other people and heard their opinions of it. All that to say, this book has helped me see God in a truthful and somewhat better light, and no, I don't think that makes me a heathen.

Some quotes I have highlighted in my book and have made me understand better are:
(God the Father is speaking in this quotation)"It is true that relationships are a whole lot messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to the deep questions of the heart and they will never love you" pg. 198
(Jesus speaking) "Remember, I am not about performance and fitting into man-made structures; I am about being. As you grow in relationship with me, what you do will simply reflect who you really are" pg. 148
And the last one, (God the Father is speaking) "The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don't think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything--the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives--is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don't" pg. 126

Those are just a few quotes that, especially when I first read the book, really made me realize what the Bible was saying. It brought even more depth of understanding of the Truth in God's Word. I understand all of the arguments of against The Shack; why it's "bad" and "wrong" and "heresy", and I can see the point that most are making, but I also see truth, and God's love and grace and character. And those things I had first known from the Bible.

So, Dr. Kersey, I don't know if this is what you were looking for, but that's what I've got!