Nov 6 We’ve all seen people that have more hair than others. There are some that also have hair where others might not have it.
Unfortunately, these follicles are not really something that we get to choose. Whether we like it or not, we have genes that entirely dictate such things as the color of our hair, our height, and where hair grows on our body. We can try to change these things through dye, clothing, and hair removal (or implantation). But in reality we are who we are made to be.
It’s sad that we judge people based on things that they cannot change. (This is in no way a political statement about homosexuality, even though it’s becoming apparent to me that it can be interpreted as such. Or maybe it’s just been on the mind with Proposition 8 in California. Anyways, see this for some truth about the “gay gene” research done by Dr. Dean Hamer. But I digress.)
So people can’t control things like where their hair grows. How do we in society get so disgusted by it? I admit that I can/do as well. But it’s strange how we can make demeaning statements about things that are not determined by these people at all!
Sometimes society stinks. And for sure mobs of people are no good.
Oct 29 Music is a wonderful thing. Throughout the ages, it has been created and enjoyed by man. It has ranged from the beat of the drum to the clang of the cymbal to the strings of the violin.
In and of itself, music is innocuous. It is the words, lyrics, and association that we attach to these series of notes that give them their meaning. That brings me to the point where I wonder at the derision of specific genres of music. While I’m not a fan of every type of music (hardcore rock comes to mind), I do wonder sometimes at the motivation that people have for judgment.
Over the years, I’ve often heard both Christians and non-Christians deride so-called Christian rap (aka Gospel Rap, Holy Hip Hop, and so on and so on). Basically it’s music that identifies itself as hip hop with lyrics that could in someway be identified as Christian. It seems that people mock it because they think that the combination of a culture of sex, drugs, and money that is often associated with the hip hop culture cannot be combined with what they perceive as stodgy, conservative Christianity. Since they cannot go hand in hand, it’s worthy of derision.
And yet I can pretty readily admit that I listen to and enjoy some of the music in this genre. While I’m most definitely a fan of a wide variety of music (classic pop, r&b;, show tunes, alternative, trance, and more), some of my favorite artists might very well be clumped into this group.
Why I enjoy Christian rap:
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Like-mindedness - While a lot of the groups and artists that I listen to don’t constantly mention the name of Jesus Christ, I enjoy listening to them because I know that we come from the same place. We’re more alike than different because we are more fundamentally similar than to someone who does not share the faith.
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Lyrics - Hardly anybody on the radio even has interesting lyrics. It’s the same old game of sex, money, and women. Soulja boy? Hardly stimulating.
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Creativity - So granted, I don’t listen to a lot of underground secular rappers. But in my experience it seems that Christian groups that I listen to are much more wiling to try new things than the factory-pressed tracks heard on the radio.
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Keeping It Real - This might seem extremely strange in a genre that many people think of as utterly fake, but I think that they’re being more real when they create their works. They’re using their entire being, from their background in the ‘hood all of the way to their conversion because of Christ. They’re not trying to hide these things, and I can respect that.
So I don’t enjoy ever single Christian rapper that I listen to. Far from it. But the same is true across the board for all musical genres. Personally I enjoy those Christian rappers that like to talk about life, just like how I like to talk about life here on this blog. But that is my own taste.
Even though it’s been popular in society to mock the Jesus that I believe in (Jesus is my homeboy anyone?), I won’t be party to it. I rather wonder why people act that way. Is it because (in the case of Christians) they’re insecure about being so in-your-face about the faith? Or perhaps it’s because (in the case of non-Christians) they haven’t experienced the same change?
Whatever it is, I might not ever know.
If you want to check out some free songs: List of free (and legal) Christian hip hop mp3s
Some of my favorites are:
Oct 23 You can either be a:
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Player - do things, live life
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Cheering Fan - encourage others to do it
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Disgruntled/Non-Participating Fan - hater
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Commentator - sit on the sidelines content to watch others do well and fail
Put me in, Coach.
Oct 15 This past weekend I completed the Long Beach half marathon. While it’s probably no big deal to some people, it was my first so it was a big deal to me.
Someday I want to run a marathon (some might say that it’s on my “bucket list”). I figured that a half marathon would be a good place to start off at since the most that I’d run previous to my training was a 10K.
So it’s done, now I just need to figure out when I want to spend $100 to run 26.2 miles. Oh how I relish the opportunity.
Oct 10 I went to Marie Callender’s in order to get a pie (they’re on sale) a few days ago. Specifically I went to go get a Double Cream Blueberry.
As I was walking out of the house I made sure that I had enough money, and I also grabbed a handful of coins off of my bookcase because I was running low in my car. So I get to Marie Callender’s and order my pie. Since I had a tin (they require a 50 cent deposit on them to make sure that people bring ‘em back) the cost was $6.99. I looked in my wallet, and I saw that I had one each of $20, $10, $5, and $1 bills. Sweet! So I grabbed the $5 and the $1 bills and started rummaging in the handful of change that I grabbed out of my car as I was getting out. I saw that I had 3 quarters, 3 dimes, a nickel and 3 pennies. (On another note, is it sad that I still remember all of this a few days later?) Sweet again! I can make over 99 cents with the coins that I had so I didn’t have to get more change.
The cashier starts looking at the coins (understandable since she needs to count it out), and she starts to mildly protest. I wonder what’s up, and she asks me what “this” is? She’s holding up one of the quarters. And…it’s a Chinese coin. Oh my, I am slightly embarrassed. Then I realize that I’m going to have to take all of the money back since I couldn’t make another 25 cents. Haha I felt pretty silly having to take it back and give over the $10 bill. Thankfully the cashier didn’t seem to mind too much. She did make a comment that it was Japanese or something, to which I mumbled, “Er yeah something like that.” I was too sheepish to correct her.
The whole time after that I was thinking that she might have thought, “What is this Asian guy pulling here?” So Marie Callender’s cashier, if you’re reading this, it was an honest mistake. I wasn’t trying to cheat. It’s also kind of unrelated, but I’m really not that Asian that I usually carry around Asian currency with me.