"Leaving Eden" by Brandon Heath

Okay, so confession of the year: I don't listen to much Christian music. I don't know who many artists are these days in that field. my heart belongs to Relient K, Jack Johnson, City & Colour, Jason Mraz, and especially Mumford & Sons. That being said, KLOVE (our Christian radio station) is still on the presets in my car, so every once in a while, I'll listen to it. I like to listen to it while I'm on my way to church to get me in the mood, or sometimes I just need some encouragement, and it helps me a little.

So when I do listen to Christian music, I find that I like Brandon Heath. He has a few good songs that I've heard on the radio. However, one of his newest songs "Leaving Eden" really grinds my gears. I don't like it. I don't like the lyrics; I think the song itself is annoying.
Here are some of the lyrics:

(One more step away)
Headlines read like a warning, we're under attack
(One more step away)
I just waved to a stranger, he didn't wave back
(One more step away)

And if it weren't for my TV I wouldn't know what is real
(One more step away)
My doctor can't do a thing for how I feel

Feels like I'm leaving Eden
Feels like I'm leaving Eden

People are losing their homes to hurricanes
(One more step away)
Old lady living next door forgot her own name
(One more step away)

Teacher is hiding her Bible but at least she's got a job
(One more step away)
My local Salvation Army just got robbed, oh

Feels like I'm leaving Eden
Feels like I'm leaving Eden, oh
It's like I'm further away with every step I take
And I can't go back 'cause I'm leaving Eden

There are many reasons that I don't like this song. I think the main reason is that I think it's obvious that we're not in Eden. It's been thousands of years since Eden. Earth has pretty much always been sinful, and until Jesus comes back, it will always be sinful. Another reason this song bothers me, is that these problems are so surface-based. There are so many bigger issues that point out the fact that we're far away from Eden. Here's some examples:

1) "I just waved to a stranger, he didn't wave back" When I first heard this line I thought to myself "Woop-de-do." This happens to me every single day. And maybe that's Brandon Heath's point: that people are unfriendly. But also, we don't know their lives. Who knows what could have happened to that person this morning, yesterday or years ago to make them calloused so that they didn't want to wave back to a stranger.

2) "People are losing their homes to hurricanes" What about the billions of homeless people in the world? The people who don't have homes to begin with, the people living on the streets. I know it's devastating to loose your home, and I can't imagine never knowing what it's like to have a home, a roof over my head, a family to live with. But I don't think it takes a hurricane to realize that people don't have homes, and this is a pretty big signal that we're "leaving Eden."

3) "Teacher is hiding her Bible, but at least she's got a job." This may sound mean, but so what if you have to hide your Bible. Newsflash: we don't live in a Christian nation, nor do I think America should be a Christan nation (but that's a whole other can of worms). You're a teacher. You teach kids who  believe all sorts of things. If you're teaching them truth, then you're teaching them Truth, and it's true, and you're teaching them about God whether you're teaching straight from the Bible or not. Also, people in other nations will literally get killed if they have Bibles. Appreciate what you have.

In short, I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that we're far far away to what Eden was. However, if you're going to sing about it please choose problems that are real, big problems. I admit, some of these issues are big, and important... But I just thing there are more obvious ones to choose from. For example: Hunger, poverty, violence, etc.

fin

A Scary Thought

Ever since Guatemala, I've obviously realized that I think God wants me to go into international social work/missions work etc. This has been an interesting realization for me because it's totally different than everything I thought I'd be doing. In every way. It's also crazy because I have no idea what that means. I mean, I don't know what country. I don't know where in the world I'll be. I don't know anything about where I'll be in even two years. I don't know what language I'll be speaking. All I know is that God will provide.


The other day, I had a really crazy thought. I thought to myself "I can't wait to be out of this country." Now, I have two things to say about this thought.

A). Why I thought it: I had this thought because I was sitting in my room, staring at all my stuff. And all my roommate's stuff. and all my suitemate's stuff. and all this stuff. All this stuff that I don't even need. And I thought "I can't wait to get out of this place, where we 'need' things that we don't really need." I just think it's so sad to think that we "need" all this random crap, and some people out there don't even know what it is that we "need." It doesn't make sense to me.

B). Why it's so significant: The thought "I can't wait to be out of this country" solidified something within me. It made it for sure that I'm not supposed to be here, at least for some time (I don't know how long I'll be away on missions... I don't know anything about it). It was the first time that I had took this fact as a fact, the first time I admitted that my future isn't here.

This is super scary at sometimes, and super exciting. I am so excited to see other places, and to help people, and to be fulfilled by fulfilling God's calling on my life, and what I believe is the call on all Christians (whether we are staying in our homelands, or going far away). I am excited to learn and see all that God has for me.

Week 1: Around the House

I'm doing a Photography Project thing per week, and this week's theme was perfect because it was "around the house." It was perfect because pretty much all I've done this week is loaf around the house.... So here goes. These are my favorite pictures:

A New Project

So for Christmas, I received a Kindle Fire. Knowing that I wanted a camera, my parents told me that I could return the Kindle and add some money, and buy a camera. So that's what I did. I am now the proud owner of a Canon Rebel T3. I love it.

I've been wanting to take more pictures with it, and so I stumbled upon a little project. It's a year long project, and to keep me accountable, I thought I would share what I've done here!

So here goes, here's what I"m gonna do: