Quite Unred

A man was stranded on an island.

The man was very lonely, until one day a seagull flew up to him. The man was overjoyed to finally have some sort of companion. He and the seagull became friends, and spent all their time together. The man would run around the island, with the seagull flying closely behind, performing impressive loops and spins. They brought joy to each other's lives, and were very happy. But the seagull eventually became disinterested and flew away.

The man survived alone for a month until another seagull came to the island.

This time, the man had a plan. He took some rope he had made from jungle vines, and tied it around the seagull's neck. The seagull tried to fly away, but couldn't break the rope. And so the seagull flew around in circles day after day, and the man sat and watched him. Then one day, the seagull bit through the rope and flew off into the heavens. The man was very angry, and shook his fist at the sky in disgust.

The man was alone for another month.

When a third seagull visited him, the man broke its wings so it couldn't fly, ensuring that the it would stay with him forever. The seagull stayed by the man's side, and the man fed him regularly. But the seagull was violent, and pecked at the man's arms and legs and clawed at his eyes until the man couldn't take it anymore. He broke the seagull's neck and left him to rot by the beach.

Many other seagulls came to the island, but when they saw the body of the last seagull, they were afraid and left immediately, warning all the other seagulls of the danger.

The man lived alone on the island until he died.

Embracing Secularism is Tricky

Right now, it is the beginning of the hours of my Sabbath. Also right now, I am listening to the progressive rock band Angels & Airwaves on my iPod.

I hear a lot of opinion from the camp of Sabbath-keepers advocating that Christians be held to a high standard of behavior and media consumption within the Sabbath hours, as they are God's specially designated time for us to worship him.

I really appreciate these viewpoints, and I can really see where they are coming from, and even sympathize with them to a degree. However, I have a slightly different outlook.

There's an oft-quoted Bible verse that is often used to categorize and gauge which things Christians should do and use on the Sabbath, among other days. You know the one I'm talking about: "Whatsoever is noble, think on these things." However, I think this verse has a great deal of leeway in terms of nobility and goodness.

Now don't mishear me as saying that I believe this verse is so nebulous as to purport that whatever we deem to be pleasing and enjoyable is permissible on the Sabbath and other days. However, I do think that there is a fair amount of material out there that can be uplifting without being inherently Christian. For example, as I write this, I am hearing themes and values in Angels and Airwaves' music that rivals many "Christian" groups and bands (even praise-oriented) in terms of merit and virtue.

I just think that the "Christian" label is somewhat useless in the big picture. I think that we (myself included) need to be much more involved in the selection process when it comes to the behaviors and media to be done and used in our lives. I think that contemporary label is quite thoroughly used up, especially when I see mainstream rockers more perfectly reflecting God's character than some of his own self-professed servants.

Oh, and strangely enough, the song I am listening to is entitled "Heaven."