Saturday 22 June 2013

I'm Talking 'Bout Those Blurred Lines

There are few things in this world that can make me Hulk angry in a matter of seconds  (excluding the misuse of your/you’re, there/their and LOL. But every now and again I am confronted by something that makes me so angry I turn green and go from zero to sixty in three point five shut up and drive on the Anger ScaleLast week I met with such a thing. And even now, just thinking about it, the red mist of anger clouds my vision and my skin is tinged with green...

But have you seen the Blurred Lines music video?  Sweet bass line, catchy tune and jaunty lighting that makes it look o so Instagram. Youtube hits at this moment stand at 58,015,056 million.

But have you seen this music video? Have you seen the women prancing around in plastic and flesh toned underwear? Have you seen the way the women are passed on from guy to guy? Have you seen the woman on her hands and knees with a car balanced on her back? Have you seen the way the women are objectified into glossy hair, red lipstick, pretty faces and ‘great bodies’? Have you seen how it’s all a bit of fun because look how the guys are just joking around? #lad

But have you seen this music video yet?

It makes me angry. And believe me, you won’t like me when I’m angry (or whatever it is the hulk says – I was never much of a Hulk fan).

I’m angry that it tells our sisters, nieces, daughters, granddaughters, cousins and friends that being objectified to a pretty face, boobs, legs and bum instead of an actual human being dearly beloved of God and of infinite value is OK.

I’m angry that it tells our brothers, nephews, sons, grandsons, cousins and friends that the objectification of women, from human being dearly beloved of God and of infinite value to a pretty face, boobs, legs and bum is OK.

I’m angry that so many people will think I’m over reacting. Because it’s just a music video, right? #banter

I’m angry because the objectification of women is such an everyday thing that sometimes I barely notice it. And the less we notice it, the more acceptable it becomes. And the more acceptable it becomes the fewer inappropriate behaviours we question and stand up to. This is not OK.

I’m angry because I don’t know how we can change this.






Sunday 16 June 2013

Take Heart

How's your week been? 

Good? Bad? Ugly?

To be honest, this has been wearisome week.  

This has been a week in which it has been impossible to hide from the hurt around.

This has been a week where I was so tired I had to get the bus home from work because I didn't think I would make it if I walked (you might think this is a bit melodramatic but I never get the bus home. And it was only Tuesday). 

This has been a week where everything has just been Too Much. 

This has been a week where I have needed a constant reminder that God has overcome the evil of this world. 

This has been a week where I have played this song again, and again, and again, and again...






There is a light
It burns brighter than the sun
It steals the night
And casts no shadow
There is hope
Should oceans rise and mountains fall
It never fails

So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
Take courage again

In death by love
The fallen world was overcome
He wears the scars of our freedom
In his name
All our fears are swept away
He never fails

So take heart
Let His love lead us through the night
Hold on to hope
Take courage again

All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome

All our failure
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome
All our heartache
And all our pain
God our healer
He has overcome

All our burdens 
And all our shame
God our freedom
He has overcome

All our troubles
And all our tears
God our hope
He has overcome
All our failures 
And all our fear
God our love
He has overcome

God our justice
God our grace
God our freedom
He has overcome

God our refuge
God our strength
God is with us
He has overcome


In this world you will have many troubles. But take heart for I have overcome the world. John 16:33


P.S. Next week is going to be much much better.

Before the Throne

Watch this:



For real. You will not regret it. Best 41 seconds of the day.*


Poor kid. You can see The Fear. You can see he most definitely regrets his actions. You can see he has an understanding of wrong and right. You can see that he's frantically searching for a way out, anything to help him escape punishment and "the cawps". And then he lands on the one thing he hopes will save him, "I'm your son! I'm your son!" He places his hope of salvation in his relationship with his mother, trusting that it will save him (can you see where I'm going with this yet?).


The fear of God.


Maybe if I understood the Awesome** majesty of God better I would be more like this kid when I consider my actions. Because I'm pretty certain that one day I will stand before God pleading, much like that child, "I'm your daughter. Jesus has saved me. Jesus has saved me." If I were of a more charismatic persuasion I would definitely be 'pleading the blood.' And quite rightly so.

Sometimes its easy to forget that God is Holy - is sacred, is pure, is perfect. Sometimes its easy to forget that a sacrifice was made so that we could freely approach God and ask for forgiveness. 

Maybe, if I had half as much fear as this kid I would examine my motives more often and think three hundred times before making a decision. 

Not that we should live bawling our eyes out everyday. But a healthy amount of trepidation wouldn't go amiss.



*Unless, like one of my flatmates, you just think its horrible that he's so scared. Maybe I just need a Sense of Humour Adjustment. 

** Please note the correct use of awesome. It's not a word to be bandied around for every situation like that Christmas present you keep re-gifting but seems to find its way back to you. 

Shout out to my brother who first notified me of this internet gold. Shout out to the mum who managed to drive and film this, and then uploaded it to the world wide web.

The Art of Sensible Living

Sensible people, I salute you (or something a little less...military. Rephrase: Sensible people, I raise a slice of cake to you) because it’s not always easy, being sensible. 

A lot of people would disagree, confusing the sensible with the safe, easy or boring option. But there is a big difference between safe, easy, boring and sensible:

Not jumping off a cliff if all your friends were doing the same, just like your mother questioned you about – safe.

Getting a takeaway instead of cooking actual food – easy/lazy.

Not skydiving from a plane into the ocean – boring to the max.

Choosing not to be one of those crazy people that runs 12 marathons in a day - sensible

You see, there's a difference. Make the wrong decision and you could end up being scraped off the side of a road three quarters of the way into your sixth marathon of the day (5 points for making it that far though).

I am sensible (most of the time - ignore anything my family might like to tell you)*. I can’t help it. It’s part of who I am. When it comes to those pivotal moments in life I seem to always take the sensible option, quite often without even realising it was one. 


But sometimes being sensible requires you to look at the choices at hand, weigh the possible consequences and then make a decision. 

Sometimes being sensible requires you to look temptation in the face and walk away. 

It's not always easy being sensible.  

And we are an unsatisfied people. Choosing to look at life through the rosy glasses of hindsight and sigh over 'If only I hadn't...' or 'What if I had...'


I think C.S.Lewis (what a ledge) got it spot on:

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all...you find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist.”
On the days in which sensible prevails, I thank the God who makes us stronger than we think we are. 

On the days in which temptation wins, I am thankful for a God who understands temptation and accepts pleas for forgiveness.

*Sensible is right up there next to 'nice' in my list of least favourite character descriptions. nice is so bland - its like frozen yoghurt without the fun toppings or flavours.