Well, here we are. We know both good and evil. Great.
Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
One of my favorite songs on the matter was blogged a while back: "people just ain't no good" . It's a lovely ballad about lost love and lost hope. I thought about the reaction some might have to Monday's Julie Andrews song. Sickening. Why? Too sweet. Doesn't seem real. We live with disappointment and consider ourselves savvy when we notice the bad. Movies like SAW (never saw it, the poster was more than enough) is more enticing to many. Why? We sense something is wrong and it helps us, in a twisted way, to have that wrong played out for us where we can watch others struggle with it (instead of us).
Monday: God is good and creates good (praise and celebrate)
Tuesday: Man is deceived and foolish and leaves goodness to explore evil. (grieve and decide: is this really what we want?)
2 comments:
I actually liked the Julie Andrews song. It gives me a sense of nostalgia in reminding me of my childhood (when I first saw the movie and heard the song) and of simpler days when one is not so jaded to not enjoy a musical.
It is sad though, that as we grow older and maybe more cynical, the ability to enjoy even the sickeningly sweet things is often times reduced to a memory - a sad salute to your Tuesday. Is reclaiming that ability a part of growing in maturity, or is it replaced by a wiser albeit less spontaneous mind? Which one is better?
Sam
Sam,
I think the good is better, but it is futile to see the good without acknowledging the bad. I really think that is why great art is full of terrible aspects. The great problem is the problem of evil, and that which does not deal meaningfully with evil is less than great.
Even in the Sound of Music they made hard decisions about right and wrong and sacrifice to stand against evil. Without it the story would have just been cute. As it is, it really is an enduring story.
IF we think we are more REAL by obsessing on evil (e.g. Tarantino)we become stylishly cool but ultimately worthless. The point of being able to deal with evil in art (or life) is in order to overcome it with good.
least, that's my take on it.
russell
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