Project Switchfoot: Ammunition

My ongoing (and doomed to failure) attempt to give my take on all of Switchfoot's songs.

Ammunition

Blame it on what you’ve been through
Blame it on what you’re into
Blame it on your religions
Blame it on politicians

We’ve been blowing up
We’re the issue
It’s our condition
We’ve been blowing up
We’re the issue
Our detonation
We’ve been blowing up
We’re the issue
We’re ammunition
We’re ammunition
We’re ammunition
We are the fuse and ammunition

I have no generation
Show me my motivation
One world one desperation
One hope and one salvation

Look what a mess we’ve made of love
Look what a mess we’ve made of love
Look what a mess we’ve made
We’ve got ourselves to blame
Look what a bomb we made of love

This song has never been my favorite musically, but as I've been listening through this album a lot recently, it's really grown on me lyrically. At this point in the album, as I discussed in my last post, Switchfoot has been exploring the discontent and dissatisfaction with life that seems to be so universal in this life. Everyone is searching for fulfillment, for something more, but we can never seem to find it. Why is that? What are we to do? How can we pull ourselves out of this and find true satisfaction?

In this song, Switchfoot emphatically answers those questions. You can't help yourself, you can't find true joy on your own, because you are the problem! It's not your circumstances or your background or your boss or your teacher or your mom or whatever else you might try to pin your problems on. Those things aren't what keep you from finding satisfaction. What keeps you from finding purpose and joy is you, yourself. We, as fallen human beings, are fundamentally broken and unable to fix ourselves. "We're the issue. It's our condition."

This is an area where Christianity stands in stark contrast with the philosophy espoused by the world. Christianity declares in no uncertain terms that man is evil to the core. This is not a popular doctrine, because people don't like it when you tell them that they're fundamentally evil. The popular view is that humans are generally good people, or if they aren't good they're at least neutral, blank slates.

I think that people who believe we are born good or born neutral just haven't spent much time around young children. I have been working at Mathnasium for the past few months, and I tutor a lot of young kids, like 4th grade and under. Let me tell you something about small children. They can be very cute and sweet at times, and they say funny things, but you know what else? Small children are pathological liars. They just are. As soon as they can speak and put together coherent stories, children will lie unless you teach them otherwise. They tell tall tales to impress you and they will say almost anything to get out of doing their work. Now, they are terribly bad liars, which is why we generally just overlook it and say "that's cute", because often time it is cute and hilarious, but the point is that, without being taught to do it, children just lie instinctively.

If you believe that you are generally a good person (and most of us, even if we wouldn't actually say this, think this in our hearts), then you're going to blame your dissatisfaction on other things, outside forces which are keeping you, a good person, from being happy. The Christian view, though, blows that up. Regardless of your nurture (what has happened to you in life), your problem is your nature (which is sinful and broken).

When The Times asked him the question "What's Wrong with the World?" G.K. Chesterton famously replied with this letter:

"Dear Sirs,

I Am

Sincerely yours, G.K. Chesterton"

This is the essence of what Switchfoot is saying in Ammunition. This world is screwed up because we are screwed up. We are the problem, and if we don't see this, we're never going to find the solution that we're all desperately searching for. One thing is certain, if we're the problem, we certainly aren't the solution. There's this idea out there that we're all pretty good people, and if we'd all stop fighting about things (mainly religion) and just love each other, this world would be a better place. That's all well and good, until you, like the song says, "look what a mess we've made of love." If you look at love in this world, it's not like it paints a pretty picture. There's a reason why the saying "you only hurt the ones you love" exists. We stink at loving people. We aren't able to do it right, no matter how hard we try. We're the issue, and "love" isn't going to solve the problem.

So what are we to do? What is the solution? As the song says, we have "One world one desperation, one hope and one salvation." There is only one hope for this desperate world, and it's the salvation granted by Christ. He comes to answer the great problem of our condition and our inability to help ourselves. It's this salvation that Switchfoot will expound on in future songs. They've addressed the unrest and discontent in the world, and now they've diagnosed the problem. We'll see in future weeks where they go from here.

Project Switchfoot: More Than Fine

My ongoing (and doomed to failure) attempt to give my take on all of Switchfoot's songs.

More Than Fine

When I wake in the morning,
I want to blow into pieces.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.
When I’m up with the sunrise
I want more than just blue skies.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.

I’m not giving up, giving up, not giving up now.
I’m not giving up, giving up, not backing down.

More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok.

When I’m lit with the sunshine.
I want more than just a good time.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.

I’m not giving up, giving up, not giving up now.
I’m not giving up, giving up, not selling out.

More than oceans away from the dawn.
More than oceans away from who we are
More than oceans, more than oceans, yeah.

One of the things I love about Switchfoot is that their albums are actually albums, not just collections of songs. They've got a flow and purpose to them. The first three songs on The Beautiful Letdown are all about dissatisfaction. "We were meant to live for so much more." "This is your life, are you who you want to be?" And now "I want more than just ok." They're speaking to this universal sense of ennui, that feeling of discontentment and boredom that everyone experiences in their life.

Nobody is satisfied with "fine", with living the daily grind. Doesn't matter if your daily grind is toiling away doing manual labor, sitting in a cubicle, studying for classes, or being a movie star. It doesn't matter. You can just look at the lives of many athletes and celebrities who continually end up in the tabloids to see that discontentment comes in all walks of life, regardless of how "successful" you are. Life can easily become like it was for Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day, repeating in an endless cycle of sameness, where it doesn't feel like anything will ever change. There's a burning desire in each of us for "more than fine, more than bent on getting by."

So, what the heck are we all looking for? At this point, Switchfoot's songs could really have been written by anyone, not necessarily a Christian group. There are no shortage of songs about unrest and being dissatisfied with your life. They're addressing a well-recognized issue. What's going to make a difference is how Switchfoot responds and addresses this problem with the rest of their songs. We'll get to that later though.

The song, though, has plenty to say to the Christian as well. I think too often we're content to settle for just "getting by". There should be no such thing as an "average Christian." We've been given the greatest gift in the world. We have a personal relationship with the almighty creator of the universe. There is nothing "average" about that. The way in which we live our lives should be radically changed. Our desire in this life shouldn't be for a comfortable existence, we should strive for more than that, "more than just ok." One of my favorite quotes is from a man named Tim Kizziar, who says “Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Are we content with things that don't matter, or do we want "more than just a good time"? I'll end with my favorite quote in the world (anyone in the Peace Youth Group should know what's coming here):

"We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are "harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!"
-Jim Elliot

If You're A Star Wars Fan...

Two posts in one day? Craziness!

If you have even a passing interest in the original Star Wars movies, you should check out these videos.



Some very dedicated superfan has put together an amazing series of videos featuring behind the scenes footage, outtakes, deleted scenes, concept art, little-known facts, snippets from commentary tracks and interviews, and all sorts of other stuff. There are feature length videos for all three of the movies, and it's an amazing insight into the production of these movies. I've only watched the first few videos so far, but it's really fascinating stuff. If you're a fan of Star Wars or film in general, you should check it out.

Best of the Super Bowl

Well, as you likely know, unless you have been living under a rock (on the moon), there was this little football game last night. A few people watched it.

Now, for most casual viewers, the team that wins the game doesn't matter (Yeah Packers!). No, for the casual viewer, Super Bowl Sunday is all about the Super Bowl Party and the commercials. With everyone watching, all the companies want to put their best foot forward. So, who won the commercial wars this year?

Well, it was a pretty weak batch this year, but a few stood out. Here's my top 5.

Audi: "Release the Hounds"




The tapping glasses as the prisoners escape killed me. There are really some fantastic gags in this one.

Doritos: The Best Part



I've read online some people saying that this commercial is just gross and weird. Those people have no sense of humor. Seriously, this was the biggest laugh of the night for me by far. Doritos also had the great "House Sitting" commercial, where the Doritos could bring things back to life.

Teleflora: Faith Hill



It's the "My heart told me to" at the end that really elevates this one to another level.

House: Mean Joe Green Spoof



Oh, Hugh Laurie, how I love you.

Groupon: Tibet



This is another commercial I've seen people say is insensitive and in bad taste. Those people are missing the point. It's a hilarious misdirection, and it isn't making fun of the people of Tibet or anything like that. It's making fun of the dime-a-dozen ads featuring celebrities touting their cause of the month. Bottom line, it's hilarious, and that's what matters to me.

Those were my 5 favorite, and there weren't really that many others that I enjoyed. Anyone else have a favorite I didn't list?

Project Switchfoot: This Is Your Life

My ongoing (and doomed to failure) attempt to give my take on all of Switchfoot's songs.

This Is Your Life:

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken
Don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you’ve got now
Yeah, and today is all you’ll ever have
Don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes

This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything that you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over
Don’t close your eyes

This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?

I think it's easy for us to live in the past or live in the future. I know it is for me. The reason for that, in my opinion, is because we can make it what we want. Certainly when we envision our futures, we can imagine whatever we want. We can picture our future going perfectly and how great it will be. We'll get the girl, we'll get the job, we'll be the star. When we dream about the future, it's almost always a view of everything going right (or if we're feeling particularly depressed at the time, everything going wrong). The point is, we can make it whatever we want, it's fantasy. It's just the same with dwelling in the past too. When we live in the past and reminisce or wonder "what if?", then we can filter it through whatever lens we want. We can make up how things might have gone if we'd done something different. We emphasize different aspects of our memories depending on what we want those memories to be. It's why when we tell stories about people who annoy us, or things that we enjoyed, they become "the worst" or "the best". We see what we want to see in our memory and it becomes just as much fantasy as dreaming about the future is. We like to dwell on the past or the future because it's easy, it's all in our head, so we control it.

The irony of this, of course, is that we actually have no control over the past or the future. You can't change the past, no matter how much you play the "what if?" game. I used to do that all the time when I was younger. I would keep going back to times when I had screwed up and picturing doing it all differently, not saying that stupid thing or not being so nervous or not missing those free throws or whatever. Did it ever help me? Not a bit. This wasn't learning from an experience and moving on, it was continually building a fantasy based on what might have been. Until they invent a time machine, this kind of thinking doesn't help anyone. You can't change the past. "Yesterday is dead and over." Similarly, dreaming about the future really isn't a productive use of your time. You can dream and you can set your best plans to meet those dreams, but you have no real control over the future. No one ever ends up where they expect to be, much less where they dream they will be. As Switchfoot sings "This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?" You might carefully plan your 10 step process and follow it to success, or you might get hit by a car tomorrow and become a cripple. You can't control the future, no matter how hard you try.

So now, after having rambled on for a bit, I'll return to the song. It's not a song whose meaning is hard to find ("then why did you just ramble on for 2 paragraphs?" You might ask. Well, because otherwise how am I going to look smart and intellectual?). It is repeated over and over again in both the verses and the chorus, "This is your life, are you who you want to be?" The song begs for its hearers to think about where they are right now. Don't think about the past, it's done, it's over with. Don't think about the future and what you might do or what you want to do. Think about the present, the now. Right now, at this moment, are you who you want to be? This is all you can control. You can't change the past. You can't predict the future. What you can control is who you are right now. It's a simple message, and yet when you think of the implications, it's an indictment against all of the time-wasting and apathy we find ourselves mired in. This is your life! You're not promised anything past this. "Today is all you've got now." There is an immediacy to life that we'd just rather ignore. Once the day is gone, it's gone, it's a "wrinkle on your forehead."

I'm going to try not to quote C.S. Lewis in every one of these write-ups, but there's a portion of Lewis's Screwtape Letters which I thing fits perfectly with this song.

"The humans live in time but [God] destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present — either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure."

You're not going to develop a relationship with God by saying "God, I'm going to follow you in the future," you do it by continually saying "God, I'm going to follow you now, in this moment." You can't make resolutions or promise yourself you're going to do better, because we don't have the strength to follow through on it anyway. The only way to find true joy in this life, the only way to be able to say yes to the question "are you who you want to be?" is by living in the shadow of the cross, clinging to the promises of Christ.

Project Switchfoot

Last weekend on the Peace Senior High guy's retreat, we listened to a bunch of Switchfoot songs during our sessions, and it rekindled my love for them. The thing that's amazing about Switchfoot is that they never resort to the cliches that a lot of contemporary Christian groups do, they never bang you over the head with their religiosity, and yet almost every single song proclaims an undeniably Christian message. Lyrically, they're probably my favorite band out there. So, I'm going to attempt something I'm calling "Project Switchfoot". The plan is to go through Switchfoot's songs and do a little write-up giving my thoughts on each one of their songs. I want to do at least one song a week, maybe two if I can manage it (I probably will not). Hopefully, this will keep me writing, and exercise my ability to engage with the things I'm taking in. We'll see if I can keep it up, but hopefully it works out and I actually have things to say.

Since I don't actually own their first two albums, I'm going to start by working my way through my favorite Switchfoot album, The Beautiful Letdown

Meant To Live

Fumbling his confidence and
Wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he’s bent for more
Than arguments and failed attempts to fly, fly

We were meant to live for so much more,
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside,
Somewhere we live inside.
We were meant live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves
Somewhere we live inside.

Dreaming about providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we’ve been living with our eyes half open
Maybe we’re bent and broken,

We want more than this world’s got to offer (2x)
We want more than the wars of our fathers
and everything inside screams for second life. (yeah)
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?

C.S. Lewis once wrote "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." I wouldn't be surprised if that quote was on Jon Foreman's mind when he wrote this song. "Meant To Live" is a song about that desire for more than what this life offers. I believe everyone feels that longing for something more, something outside of our everyday lives. Occasionally, we catch glimpses of that wonder that we're searching for, echoes of heaven that squeeze their way through our half-open eyes. Maybe it's the beauty of a waterfall or a sunset, or the rush of skydiving, or the winning shot in a basketball game, or the embrace of a loved one, and on and on. There are fleeting moments where we feel like we've almost gotten there, but they aren't quite the real thing, and they never last. And so, we become moment hunters, grasping for these hints of what we're really meant for, continually making "failed attempts to fly".

As Lewis says though, the attempts to find fulfillment in this world are inevitably fruitless, even if they seem successful. We have countless examples to show us that worldly goods and success are no guarantee of happiness and satisfaction. Consider Michael Jordan, who was undeniably as successful as you can get, yet was so obsessively competitive that 6 years after his retirement, when he was being honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame as the greatest player ever, Jordan felt the need to give a bitter, petty speech aimed at all the people he dominated during his career. One of the reasons The Social Network was my favorite film of last year was because of the final scene. After inventing Facebook, becoming wildly successful and fabulously rich, Mark Zuckerberg sits in front of a laptop and continually refreshes the screen, waiting for the college girlfriend who dumped him to accept his friend request. Even when we are "successful" in our attempts to fly, ultimately we still fail, because there is no true satisfaction to be found in the world. As the preacher in Ecclesiastes says "All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full...the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."

The line from the chorus that is repeated in the bridge is a great line. "Have we lost ourselves?" On the one hand, it questions whether we've lost our original purpose., if things aren't how they're supposed to be. We are meant for so much more, but we did lose ourselves. Sin has separated us from the purpose we were created for. On the other hand, the question is also the means to find that purpose. "Have we lost ourselves?" Christ said he came that we may "have life, and have it to the full," that we might have more than this world's got to offer. He also said "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." Have we lost ourselves?

Things I Like: Take 2

It's been a while since I last posted, mostly because my last few weeks have been mostly consumed by learning Hebrew. Hopefully (I know I've said this before, and I'll probably say it again) I'll get to writing more now. I have a cool new idea that I hope will keep me writing consistently, but I'll get to that tomorrow. For now, I'm going to list some of the things I've been enjoying lately.

Things I Like

• The Script: I know they've been around for a while, but I've recently just gotten completely addicted to these guys. I absolutely love "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", "We Cry", "Fall For Anything" and "If You See Kay", but this song is genuinely great:

• Community: It's back! I unabashedly love this show, and I'm ecstatic that it's back on after the winter break. I almost wrote a whole blog post about how amazing this show is, but I'll just leave it at this. You need to be watching this show. It's the funniest thing on TV, and nothing else comes even remotely close. Get on the Donald Glover train now, because he's going to be a gigantic star.

• Netflix Instant Watch: I love Netflix Instant Watch. I watched a bunch of movies the last few weeks because I would just lie on my bed doing all my Hebrew busywork and queue up one of the many movies I've been wanting to watch. In case you were wondering, here are some of the ones I've really enjoyed that you can check out as well.

- Exit Through The Gift Shop: Great documentary on street art (and it's also available for free on Hulu right now)
- Man on Wire: Another great documentary about "The Artistic Crime of the Century"
- The King of Kong: Yet another documentary, this time about a guy who sets the world record high score in Donkey Kong. Sounds ridiculous, but it's actually great.
- TiMER: Fun little RomCom wrapped in an interesting sci-fi concept.
- The Damned United: It takes a lot for me to love a movie about soccer. I love this movie.
- Death To Smoochy: Ed Norton plays a purple dinosaur children's show host. Awesome.

• The Books of Magic, by Neil Gaiman: I've read almost everything Gaiman has read, and he's probably my favorite author right now. This was a comic I hadn't been able to find before, and I loved it like I love most of his work. It made me wish I owned the Sandman series so that I could go back and reread it. If you've never read Gaiman, or you've never appreciated a comic book before, I cannot recommend the Sandman series highly enough. It's probably one of my five favorite things I've ever read.

• Bridge: I've learned how to play Bridge recently, and found that I really enjoy it. It demands a much better card sense and ability to keep track of what's been played than most other card games, and I've really enjoyed learning how to play.

• The Peace Church Senior High Guys: I just recently got back from a weekend at Myrtle Beach as a chaperone for the guy's retreat, and after times like that, I'm always reminded how much I miss working with and hanging out with those guys. I think I told someone this weekend, I'd give just about anything to be able to come back and work with that youth group again. I love these guys, and I'm always so encouraged to hear what God is doing in their lives.

• My Car's Gas Mileage: I can drive from Charlotte to Cary and back again on one tank of gas, and it only costs me $30 to fill it up. Almost single-handedly keeping me out of the poor house.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have a fun little post for you tomorrow.