I was recently challenged to ask myself a few important introspective Q's:
1. What tower(s) might I be building for myself?
2. What mud might I be playing/wallowing in?
The context of these questions come directly from a project by Christian hard rock artist Showbread. The project, their concept album Anorexia Nervosa, combines two full length CD's with a story written by the band (or a band member, I'm not 100% sure) into one heavily absorbing multimedia experience. The CD's act as the soundtrack to the narrative of the story, powerfully (emotionally) and effectively (fittingly) matching the plot, attitudes, dialogue, and characters within the story.
To give you a very simple explanation, for context's sake only, the first CD/Story is about a character who devotes her life completely to Christian works. She Starts a home for sick and dying children, sacrificing herself for them. This is allegorized by (and the allegory is actually the larger portion of the story than what it is symbolizing) her building a tower to the sky. But all of her works are driven by her own efforts to immortalize herself, to accomplish, to stand atop her tower as an individual who has outdone all others. [spoiler warning! to skip, go to next paragraph] She comes to realize at the end of her life that her tower, which she had seen in life as a "monolith", a "colossus", now in death stood in actuallity only inches from the earth! There in the midst of her greatest defeat and failure, she is met by unconditional Love, a love that lifts her beyond the heights of any tower towards and into Saving Grace.
The second CD/Story is about a character who decides to find meaning and purpose and fullfillment in the basest of things. She determines to be as wretched and vile a creature as she may be giving herself up to prostitution and the ugliest crowds and circles. This is allegorized by (and the allegory is actually the larger portion of the story than what it is symbolizing) her digging a whole, which becomes a ditch, and a pit, and a crypt. There, senses deadened to the point of permanant blindness and numbness, there, while being eaten alive by the lowest and foulest of maggots and worms, there, while falling apart, she is met by unconditional Love, a love that lifts her out of greater depths than any she could ever know, a love that transforms her into the beautiful woman she was meant to be (indeed into the woman she was percieved as by the Lamb no matter what state or pit she was in) and brings her to Saving Grace.
So again I ask: what tower(s) am i erecting? and what pit of mud am i settling into?
Ask yourself these questions, and then, ask yourself this, as I ask myself: Why and for whom do i live? What is love? How, then shall I live?
Ps 8.4; Ps 144.3; Is 64.6; II Co 5.21
2 comments:
Hey Claggett! love the blog! Especially in light of A/N's potent transformative potential in thought and impact. It continues to fill me with wonder, worship (which Donald Miller would say is the same thing), pain, sorrow and joy. I couldn't agree with you more about the appropriate questions to answer based on this project.
Nathan, this ties in beautifully with the seminar I said I attended recently with Tim Keller! Very briefly, I would make the connection from the two stories you posted to the so-called story of the prodigal son (which I am now realizing is a very mis-guided name for the parable!)... the one erecting the tower would be like the elder brother. His tower was his own righteousness, "obedience," and "duty" to earn the father's favor. The second story of course would be comparable to the younger, "prodigal" brother. ~ I'll share more when you're home over Thanksgiving! Love ya!
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