Sunday, July 13, 2008

philadelphia.

We're recording more demos in Philadelphia right now. I don't have any pictures. Our approach right now is fairly "take it as it comes"...some of the songs are built upon one chord progression. It's exciting that way. Starting to record a song which has no end keeps the song very vulnerable. That can be a great advantage or a problem, depending on your focus.

I think I mentioned earlier that I have been thinking a lot about the idea of "suffering" in relation to spiritual growth. So far I haven't gone too far outside of the existential idea, sticking to Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky. I relate more to what they say because it is anchored in a belief in Christ, as where Jean-Paul Sarte is not. I think that Nietzsche, despite his reputation, is not the God hater he's made out to be. It's not that he hates God, in fact, his idea of the "superman" is very much God like (although modified as glorified "christ like" man, too anthropomorphic perhaps). The phrase that is commonly attributed to him, "God is dead" is a critique on humanity, and I think that his distaste for Christians maybe translated, or evolved into a general distaste for God and religion in general, he thought it was slavery. I won't claim to agree with what he says, but I can very easily identify with the general idea. Although, moving into things that CS Lewis has said, Albert Camus and the Bible, this idea of human suffering is inevitable and something that is completely justified. I have been finding parallels in ideas, and perhaps the approach is different, or the source of inspiration, but I do believe there are similarities. I'm not quick to say that "suffering" is something to be desired, but I do think that it is inevitable if one is truly seeking to understand God and seeking to reconcile the paradox of Christ and human design. I don't want to confuse ideas though. I'm not talking about depression. When I use the word "suffering" it is in direct relation to something internal, the gap that appears when one considers the longing of the human spirit, the curious behavior of human nature and what the world has to offer. I've heard people say to me that the reason for rejoice and happiness lies in God's sacrifice, Jesus's love, and his rise to heaven. Although, there are two ways of looking at it. Suffering and Joy are not mutually exclusive, in fact, I think they exist in very close proximity. Jesus's life on earth is not necessariy one of triumph, his DEPARTURE from earth was.

That's what I've been thinking of, and some other things too.

3 Comments:

Blogger Melanie said...

I'm glad to hear that the writing/recording process is still moving along. I imagine every time an artist creates something (music, lyric, photo, painting) one becomes somewhat vulnerable during the process. There probably is no eay way around it. I imagine one advantage is that you can go back and hear what you have already. When I write something, I write that way, so there is no reason it wouldn't work for music.

At any rate, this is a citation worth noting:

"Suffering and Joy are not mutually exclusive, in fact, I think they exist in very close proximity. Jesus's life on earth is not necessariy one of triumph, his DEPARTURE from earth was."

God's blessings,
Melanie

10:50 PM

 
Blogger rachel said...

thank you. :) it's always very thought-provoking, that's all. none of my friends think as well as you, or at least they don't let me know.

anyways. your thoughts of suffering and joy, i like it. i'm not quite sure. and i'm not quite sure about all these philosophers either, i'll go read them soon.
:)
have a good lunch!

10:29 PM

 
Blogger Austin Shipman said...

I recently starting reading through lewis' (Problem of Pain). I like some of the comments he makes of pain being inevitable and neccessary even, that run along with your thoughts. I do wish he had more writings on Genesis.

8:03 AM

 

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