Confessions of a Shiftless Mind

Everythings so blurry
And everyones so fake
And everybodys so empty
And everything is so messed up
Pre-occupied without you
I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone
You could be my scene
You know that I’ll protect you
From all of the obscene
I wonder what your doing
Imagine where you are
Theres oceans in between us
But thats not very far - “Blurry” - Puddle of Mudd, 2001.

I don’t get it.  Everyone knows the truth of these lyrics.  We see it every day.  The disorder of hate, the disorder of killings, abuse, ignorance, apathy.  These disorders all come from within - from the heart of each human on this earth.

The only people who think there is nothing wrong are people who are so wounded that they have normalized the disorder.  They have fooled themselves, inoculated themselves, callused their hearts so much that they accept this now.

But this is not what life was meant to be like.

The song lyrics speak of a man desperate for meaning, and trying to find it in his love for a woman.  He is so close to the truth but can’t grasp it because his eyes won’t see past his own desires.  He doesn’t know why he thinks he will find meaning in another person, though he questions her ability to take away his sense of disorder in the world.

Her love won’t change the world.

But love can.

Throughout history, man has made his own gods.  There have been gods for everything - from harvest gods to war gods to death gods to love gods to sea gods.  Humanity sees something beyond its control and assumes that something must be controlling it - something that can be bribed.  Because sometimes the bribes “work” and sometimes they don’t, they assume that their god must be capricious.

But there is a God in heaven.  People hunt around for a God who will be appeased, because it is easier to deal with than a God who loves.

That God - not a god of love, but a God who IS love - has already told us about himself.  He has already explained the depth of his love for us and desire for good for us, but we turn away, we ignore him.  And then we write songs like this, bemoaning the hideousness of a life lived without this God who loves us.

Sin is insidious.  It has infected even those who do know and love God.  And because of that, there are those who have been hurt by them, and assign the blame to the God of those who sin.  But if they got past the human beings who really are no better than themselves, they would see who God really is and see that what he taught us - the way of life described by Jesus in his time on earth - is the only way for humanity to get past the fakeness, the emptiness, and the messed up parts of our lives.

It really is the only way.

Islam?  Appeasement of a capricious Allah.

Buddhism?  Turning inwards to attain a state of nirvana, and shutting out the pain of the world.  In the meantime, leaving the world suffering alone.

Judaism?  Trying desperately to follow rules that are impossible to follow (and ignoring the real message of their own writings - that one would come to save them and would be preceded by signs that show he is who he says he is.  That one has already come.

Animism?  Appeasement of capricious spirits.

Taoism/Shintoism?  Appeasement of dead people who have no power.

Atheism?  Living without meaning.

Christism?  A God of love, loves you, and wants you to love him back.  You already know what true love looks like.  You know in your heart how it works.  If you start doing it, then love for your fellow man, for your neighbour, for your enemy flows from that.  Respect for the world that God made for you flows from that.  Putting others before yourself flows from that.  Not needing “things” to make one happy flows from that.  Contentment and joy flows from that.  It all begins with love.  Why is it so hard to understand?