"Mother of creation wait, embrace the souls of a lost world
Carry them away,
Darkness negative receptive,
Pour firmament between our waters
Separate the space
Brother of destruction wait with a belt of
Skulls strap me down
And send the ship away,
Progress with the process, mine the souls
From their casts
Pour form and reshape"
- Mudvayne
I have no illusions about the band Mudvayne. I know they intend nothing Christian in those lyrics. Perhaps the point they originally intend is something I would abhor as a Christian. I don't care what they originally meant, and I have no desire to know. I only know what these words do to me personally. And for me, their is something positive, spiritual and even Christian about these words. There is a protest against the way the world is, which I find in line with the prophetic tradition. If you cannot turn to the world and scream "there is something wrong with you", then you lack a true sense of sin in the Christian sense, and you probably have a hard time really understanding what the Christian faith is all about. I love the words "pour form and reshape". The whole song reminds me of the words of Ben Skyles "God crush me down, so I can be raised up."
There are some forms of media I can take into myself and reshape into whatever I want them to be. I watch things, and participate in cultural products, that no doubt other Christians might abhor. I like weird movies, and some of the weirdest have had some of the deepest meaning for me, as a Christian. Movies like Pumpkin, Hesher, Butter, Cloud Atlas, Tucker & Dale Vs Evil, Waking Life, Safety Not Guaranteed, Ghost Dog and Dogma
Mary McCleary is an artist who uses trash to make beautiful collages, often with Christian themes (see here: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://imagejournal.org/uploadedfiles/Image/visual_art/coverart/23coverart.jpg&imgrefurl=http://imagejournal.org/page/journal/back-issues/issue-23&h=665&w=1000&sz=526&tbnid=9ffl3zyPviqTjM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmary%2Bmccleary%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=mary+mccleary&usg=__VZZg9DLQU5FiyrhKArAQRM5LeeE=&docid=jf9OVQyxOrH0qM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jn8BUZKlOO-_2QXB4YHYDg&sqi=2&ved=0CFYQ9QEwBQ&dur=2179)
Advertisers 'deconstruct' our culture all the time. They take themes of meaning and value and turn them into just another mode of attention-grabbing. They break down our Christian symbols and make them part of a meaningless tower whose only purpose is to hold people's attention so as to sell product. Culture today is manufactured. But if these organizations can take my meaning and rebuild it into something meaningless, why can't I do what Mary McCleary is doing and take their meaningless chatter, break it down, and build it up into something meaningful. It is a dangerous endeavor, it has great risks, but it has great benefits. I reap them every day. With a soul focused on Christ as the center, as God, the mind can go on great adventures that need not threaten it.
"You found me" by the Fray reminds me of this. I don't necessarily agree with what I think the group originally meant by wrinting the song to begin with, but the idea that God is this everyday person on the street and the fact you question him when you feel lost or betrayed is so moving. I've been there, wondered where God is and realizing later He had been with me all along.
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