Fish Are Friends, Not Food

Amazing videos in worldview lately. There's this one guy that makes more sense than anyone I have ever heard speak before. I don't think I could ever get tired of listening to him. He's funny and he has that utilitarian brashness about him that makes him likable- he's not one of those Christians that discusses theology just for fun and lives in a fishbowl. But while he has really strong opinions about things like "the good old days" (were they really any better? Each generation has it's own struggles, stop whining and lets face ours!), he always voices them respectfully and logically without shoving them down your throat. It's really awesome.

One thing he said yesterday, however, really struck me. He put up a picture of Brittany Spears. And he asked the audience, "Who is Brittany Spears?" The answer, as he put it, is "What year is it?"

He used tons of examples to show how our world had melded image and identity into the same thing. Stars are constantly changing their images. Now America is buying into the idea that you can put out whatever image you want and it will give you a new identity. And I've totally been doing that myself. It's almost impossible to separate it in our minds, I think- we ask ourselves "who am I?" and the answers are so bound up in our image. How do we even define an identity if it's not image? It's definitely something to think about.

If I wish to change this image, I must first change myself.

Totally unrelated, I've found the most inspiring book ever. I wanted to share this quote, then I'll tell you what book it is, cuz it's the last one you'd expect.

"You'd be surprised. Every bit of life, every single one of us has a dark side… When you decided to leave home… you were venturing out of your particular ivory tower. I know. I was reared in an ivory tower too. Then we get our first good look at the way life really is, and a lot of us want to run back to shelter in a hurry. At age sixteen I had, shall we say, a difficult experience, so difficult that after that I didn't ever again want to see any dirt-or blood-or disease-or cruelty-or whoring-or death. Ever since God has been gently, steadily prying the little girl's hand off the little girl's eyes. As if He were saying, "I can't use ivory-tower followers. They're plaster of Paris, they crumble and fall apart in life's press. So you've got to see life the way it really is before you can do anything about evil. You cannot vanquish it. I can. But in My world the battle against evil has to be a joint endeavor. You and Me. I, God, in you, can have the victory every time.'"

-Miss Alice, from Christy.