Almost twenty years ago, I wasn't yet a believer. I saw a music video "One Of Us" by Joan Osborne and I found it interesting. Well, I absolutely had no clue who God was back then. And the music video seemed to present pictures of imperfect human in their daily life, and the song seemed to claim that maybe God is like us, sad and lonely, we should sympathize and feel sorry for Him just as for the rest of humanity. I even sang that song with my sister sometimes. She likes it.
But now it's not back then. This song scares me. It is like a temptation to make people look that "Are you sure God is good and great?" "Are you sure he's not a slob?" "Do you really want to believe in things like Heaven and the Saints and all the prophets?"
Well, it scares me because.
1. I found out the truth that God is really good and great. And there is no way He could be a slop. Heaven is for real. (although I still have not yet totally embraced the idea of saints and prophets but I give it more than 90% for because of the examples of what I see in real life.)
2. It's nothing wrong to wonder who God is and what He's like. But why...the author of the song would thought God is a slob and a lonely old man if he or she hasn't yet known Him? Why would one sing this song out in the media so that others would question God too? I mean...they must have something a little bit...uh...against Him. When I wasn't a believer, my view of God was rather neutral. But the person who wrote this song seem to intrique other people to have negative view on God. The song seems to create an impression of God as weak being, God as pathetic being. Oh well, now that's scary.
Another song I used to like very much is "Hallelujah." originally writen by Leornard Cohen. To tell the truth, I used to like this song very much. Some performance of the song can almsot make you cry. It communicates so much sadness in the heart. However, I just read the whole lyrics last night. I was shocked. I used to think that there must be no harm in this song for it was used in "Shrek" a film for children. But I was wrong. I searched throughly on the internet, some people seemed to agree that it is bad to put this song in that particular scene for Shrek...it associates the word "Hallelujah" with sadness, broken heart, and hopelessness. Not to mention the obscene lyrics. The song is alternating scenes of sex with the words Hallelujah.
But I got more sympathy toward this song more than "One of Us." At least, there is true sadness reflected in it. The author of the song seems to admit that he views life in a depressive way. And in the end...he said that he's "not somebody who has seen the light" and his song is "a cold and broken Hallelujah." Well, heartache can be felt when you listen to this song, and it is understandable. We all went throught such periods and I went to the time when my Hallelujah was cold and broken too. To me...it is coldness toward God...but still it is almost like bitter muffled prayer.
Well, but for me, it is bad idea to put such as song in children's movie. And I just don't understand why they have to use such explicit scenes of sex with the words Hallelujah. I mean...what kind of impression it would create to those who haven't yet believed in God. Will he give himself a chance to try...after listening to this song?
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