Don't look at me, Jesus did it

God did absolutely nothing for you.

It's my personal belief that he gave you life, yes, at least in a broad sense. But he certainly didn't do anything for you.

You hear it all the time. "I got an A in history. Thank Jesus, my prayers were answered!" Now, most people just say it hyperbolically, but if you actually said it and meant it, you already don't deserve to have your prayers answered.

Here's why: Children are starving in Africa. War, famine and general injustice run rampant throughout the planet. (And, for all we know, beyond.) God is all-powerful, and yet does nothing about these things. (That we can see.) Yet, he "gave you" or "helped you earn" an A in history? What.

This argument probably sounds familiar, but it really deserves repeating. God didn't get you a raise, God didn't get you an A, God didn't do jack shit. You or someone else did those things. Your boss gave you the raise. (Or, alternatively, fired your ass.) Your teacher gave you the A, and you probably studied hard for it. (Alternatively, you put all your faith in THE LORD, or just didn't study, and the teacher flunked you. This should really come as a surprise to no one.)

The worst part is, some people place their faith ENTIRELY in God, and do absolutely nothing, convinced he's going to take care of everything. This is dangerously irresponsible, to say the least. This is like pushing all of your responsibility on one other person, only that person hasn't technically been proven to exist, and there's no guarantee he'll do anything at all. As well he shouldn't. God is many things, but he's far from being an enabler.

What I particularly dislike, and what's far more common, is people who work very, very hard at something, and accomplish something good, whether it be passing a test or changing the entire fate of mankind, and then say "Don't thank me. Thank my pal Jesus!" Wonderful, I understand your faith and devotion to God, and your love for Him. But C'MON! You did that work yourself! (Or, and again this is awful, someone else did something great and you disregarded them in favor of God.) I'm sure God wouldn't mind if you boasted a little bit.

God isn't a trophy parent. He's not out to make you win awards so he can live vicariously through you. Just take it easy and get back to your work.

I'm not a poet and I do know it

The past few days I've been starting to learn how to write poetry, and I did an exercise writing in iambic pentameter. Enjoy.

Making fun of me, that is.

----
The time it ticks along so slow for me

For youth the world are at their feet for now
Old age brings death for hopes and dreams, bold scars

Tunes playing on repeat ad nauseum

Cell phone lay dead upon the desk, shut off
The batt'ry needs a decent charge, for sure

Frost formed, caked over the bedroom window

The sun rises over the treetops high
Can't see it, bloody fucking ice (blocked view)

Pepsi is good, but not for teeth, no way

"Video killed the radio star"
Pretty decent song, I really must say

Hacky sack is beyond hard work for me

The glowing screen is lingering vision
My eyes, they're strained, may go blind on some day
----

Can you tell what my main sources of inspiration were?

A Promise I Can't Keep

Doesn't finishing a project feel like the greatest thing in the world? I love slaving away at something, whether it be for a few hours or a project spanning months, and finally crossing that finish line. Couldn't be a better feeling in the universe.

On that note, I've made a vow to update at least once a week, even if it's only something small.

Single-person Wangst Day!

As much as I'm expected to loathe it, being single and hating it, and as commercial as it is, happy Valentine's Day anyway! Let's not forget what it represents deep down, because that's the most important thing in the world.

Y U DO

So, with all the books I've been reading lately, and all the movies I've watched, and all the games I've played and just generally all the information I've taken in, my mind has been buzzing nonstop. For one, there's one thought that's been really nagging at me: how much do we take in? Do we ever stop absorbing information (short of dying, naturally), and when do we at least slow down? How varied should we be? What should we read and watch, and where do we find it? And how much do we partake in?

Obviously, we never actually stop, unless we're dead or lying on a hospital bed staring at the ceiling and thinking nothing in particular because our brains have mostly rotted away. So that's one dilemma solved right off the bat.

The next question is, how much knowledge can we really absorb? Well, the brain has it's limits, so we can absorb all we want, but we won't remember all of it. And indeed, one day, we may find ourselves completely losing our memories and never being able to recall such things anyway. But how much should we TRY to absorb? This, again, obviously, varies from person to person. Some people don't read at all, some people read hundreds of books a year. Some people go to the movies with their friends once or twice a month, other people sit at home alone and watch a movie or two every single day. And of course, different sources yield varying amounts of information. A Dan Brown novel obviously won't teach you as much about history or science as a textbook would, but at the very least it could excite your imagination. Is that as important as having the knowledge in the first place? Anyway, it could inspire you to look into it, so it can't hurt...can it?

So while I'm at it, is fiction anywhere near as important as non-fiction? Is it better to use fiction to relax or as a means to better yourself? Once again, it varies. 'Nuff said.

And now the one that really baffles me: Why do we have so much information in the world? History and most fields of science are constantly advancing, so that's a no-brainer. But what about fiction? What about all the many, many, MANY religions out there? Why do we need so much information that in the long run won't benefit most people, that may only touch a very select few number of people personally, but not even inspire them towards anything? Why would people create such things in the first place? This one, I don't know if I'll ever be able to answer.

tl;dr: I think too much, and can never reach a coherent point. And now I just contributed MORE writing to the metaphorical pile, so I'm thoroughly confused.

Bringing out the dead

So, I finally decided to start blogging again. I figure "hey, all these rich and famous authors have blogs, why shouldn't I?" and then I kept convincing myself I wasn't rich and famous. And I'm right.

The end.

(Stay tuned for more after this commercial break)