Ke$ha Geaze What a Sleaze!

Anyone who listens to her music will tell you that Ke$ha is a party person focused on alcohol and sex. Her lyrics don't hide this. She's brushing her "teeth with a bottle of Jack", she "[takes] it off" and she asks someone to "put a little love in [her] glove box". These are pretty convincing arguments to write Ke$ha off as a tramp, but who are we to judge her.

The other day Travis was telling me about a little epiphany he had on judgment. He told me something along the lines of, "We can judge an action as being good or bad. However a person we cannot judge because they are more than just their actions." This further reminded me that it is not our place to judge someone as good or evil for we don't know the depths of their hearts like God our Father does. We can judge their actions, we can judge their book by it's cover. But to truly judge and write them off as good or evil is not our place. We don't know the words that span the pages of their life's book.

I will admit that I wrote Ke$ha off as a skank based solely upon her songs on the radio and their related music videos. Given that's a lot of evidence to back up my judgment, however all that evidence focuses upon one aspect. Even worse is that Ke$ha is probably just the messenger. Those lyrics and music videos are probably someone else's ideas. Today, in boredom, I found an unpopular song by Ke$ha that made me realize that she's more than what I wrote her off as.

The song: "Dancing with Tears in my Eyes"

The lyrics to this song tell a whole different story than her other songs. This song is reflective upon her actions. She doesn't just throw caution to the wind.  For once she seems to realize that her actions have consequences which tells me she's searching for truth just like any of us. She just gets misguided... Frequently. Which is still like us. We sin, we screw up. But we learn and I would say Ke$ha has too.

"Dancing with Tears in my Eyes" to me is a reflection on an occasion of sin or a lapse in judgment, whatever you wish to call it. She "wasted the love of [her] life" by her actions. Though the specific action is never stated, we can assume it's something detrimental to the relationship and not leaving the toilet seat up. She lost her love, her life, all because of sin. Haven't we done the same thing to God? Don't we put ourselves in situations where "with every move [we] die?" Then don't we "fight to get through the night."

What you should take away from this song is that we fall short. We are human. But God still loves us. Notice with in the lyrics it is Ke$ha who gives up, not her love. God doesn't want us "on the floor... just a zombie". He wants us to grow in him and in his love! He wants us to recognize that we need to change. That's why we get those moments when we realize who we are is not who we want to be. Don't be like Ke$ha and feel like your "in pieces left behind." Allow God to make you whole. Allow him to mold you and work with you.

In the end, can you really judge people like Ke$ha? No. You never know when she will see her faults and short comings and then turn around and seek forgiveness. She obviously has started to realize there are consequences for her actions, hopefully that will be enough for change.


My challenge to you is to reflect upon where you are in life. Are you pleased with the life you're living? Is God pleased? Maybe it's your turn to change. Maybe it's time to stop judging people based on their cover and start trying to understand what's on their heart.

Harry Potter - The Power of Love

Being the big Harry Potter fan that I am, I love reading about all the incredibly powerful forms of magic used throughout the series. There’s so many amazing spells that go on throughout the books including transfiguration, flying, potion making, Harry’s favorite “Expecto Patronum”, and even the three “Unforgivable Curses.” However, there is one type of magic in the Harry Potter series that is unquestionably the strongest and most powerful. It is the magic that protects Harry from the evil Lord Voldemort throughout his life.

This mysterious, powerful magic that Lord Voldemort will never understand is love, but not just any love…this incredibly powerful magic is sacrificial love. Going all the way back to the night Voldemort tried to kill Harry; we find that before Voldemort could get to Harry he had to kill both James and Lily Potter, Harry’s parents. However, if we look at Lily’s death specifically, we find that Lily didn’t just accept the inevitable death coming her way, but really honestly truly desired to die so that her son Harry could live. Her love was sacrificial; it was so profound and true that she wished to die so that her son may have life. What happens next? Voldemort is unable to kill the tiny infant Harry with the most powerful killing curse known to the wizarding world. Then, when Harry and Voldemort are reunited eleven years later, through Voldemort’s parasitic relationship with Professor Quirrell, Quirrell/Voldemort can’t even bear to touch Harry’s skin. The sacrificial love that Lily Potter had for her son was infinitely stronger than any dark magic that Lord Voldemort could conjure.

This is a principle that needs no analogy or metaphor to enlighten our faith life. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us very clearly “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Jesus Christ is the living example of this verse. He loved us enough to sacrifice his own life so that we may no longer endure spiritual death, but live eternally with God. Like Lily Potter’s love for her son, Jesus’ incredible love for us is a love that will always triumph over the powers of sin and death. If we stay close to Christ and really allow his love to work in our lives, we need not worry about the powers of Satan; we simply need to trust in the eternal love and mercy of God.

Harry is clearly a recipient of his mother’s love, as we are recipients of God’s love, but Harry doesn’t just accept his mother’s love and stop there. Harry takes the example that his mother gave him and continually sacrifices himself for the good of those around him. In just about every book/movie Harry seems to be risking his life for the sake of his friends, as well as the wizarding world as a whole. In the same way, we are called to not only receive God’s gift of perfect love through the cross and resurrection, but to share that love with everyone we meet. We are called to be signs and bearers of Christ’s love. We are called to sacrifice ourselves, just as Christ did, for our friends, families, and neighbors.

“Lord Jesus through your cross and resurrection you have shown us that true love is sacrificial love. Thank you for being such a perfect example of love in our world. Help me to love those around me with that same inclination towards self sacrifice that you had. I know that this will be an incredibly difficult task, but I also believe that with your grace anything is possible. Allow the love I spread to those around me help them, as well as myself, to grow closer to you.”

Part II: Katy Perry's Firework

To recap what was said last Friday: music reflects the views, opinions, and desires of a culture. Katy Perry expresses her desire for a lasting love in her song "Teenage Dream" but losses hope and settles for a fleeting love that launches itself towards lust. Our generation wants to experience a sacrificial love but are afraid of commitment and the work that needs to go into giving of one's self. I'd even say our generation has lost sight of the gift of life and with that our sexuality. We've devalued ourselves.

Why is it that we are so afraid of commitment and giving of ourselves?

We've made ourselves out to be fragile people. We are afraid to offend anyone. We live as if we must please everyone. We change who we are to fit in or we seclude ourselves by becoming wall flowers so people don't realize we stand out. We are afraid to commit because we fear the loss of a loved one. We fear giving ourselves because we have seen through some of our family, friends, and relative's examples and media how heart broken it can leave you. We put up so many walls we suffocate the light inside of us. That light that makes us unique. The light God has entrusted to us to further his Kingdom here on earth.

 "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind wanting to start again?" I sure hope not. However I know in my life I've experienced all of Katy Perry's metaphors. I've felt worthless, fragile, trapped. I've felt like a wall-flower. I just wanted to blend in even though I knew I stood out. Self-esteem is a huge struggle I've dealt with in life. There is no doubt about that. Despite all of this, the greatest part of the struggle was when I finally ignited that light inside of me (of course with God's help through the Sacraments and my family, friends, and community). I let my uniqueness show and I became comfortable with who I am. I "[owned] the night like the 4th of July!" I allowed God to use my gifts and talents he's given me to help bring others to him.

I know it's easy to here Katy Perry sing about igniting the inner light. But think, what could God do with your life if you only let Him be that light? God loved you into being. He has loved you from the start. He'll love you til the end. He won't leave you in between. What joy can you bring others by being yourself?

Imagine. What if Jesus didn't live as himself? What if Jesus, who was fully God and fully man (yes, 100% and 100%), didn't let his light shine by submitting himself to the will of the Father by dying on the Cross? By being himself God the Father was able to reconcile the world to Him through his Son Jesus! That's what God can do when you be yourself. God can do the impossible and he's already begun!

One of my greatest joys about this song is that Katy Perry wants here audience to find the light inside of them. She doesn't sing for you to go out and have sex, drink, and do drugs til the issues go away. Rather she wants you to see that "you're original, [and] cannot be replaced." "You just got to ignite the light and let it shine." I know it's easier said than done. Trust me. I've been there and done that. It's no easy road. But it's a road better traveled having a light than traveling in darkness.

God has blessed you with unique gifts and abilities. Use em! You never know what God has in store for you. That being said, hold your head high! Be proud! Cherish the kodak moments of life. Cherish your life and the life of your loved ones. Don't sell yourself short, especially with your gift of sexuality. I'm not going to go all Theology of the Body on you, but cherish it!

Glee!!!

Thursday I posted my analysis of the Super Bowl, but there is another reason why today is one of the most important days of the year. Not only we get the most important football game of the year, but we also get the return of one of my biggest obsessions in life: GLEE!!! Yup that’s right Rachel, Finn, and crew are back for some new episodes starting tonight right after the Super Bowl. To celebrate this amazing occasion that I’ve been waiting so long for I thought a little Glee analysis is in order.

Take a minute to think back to the very beginning of Glee, back before New Directions became the incredible music group that stole our hearts with their incredible renditions of all our favorite songs. Think way back to the Pilot episode when New Directions consisted of what seemed like the 5 most awkward kids in school. There was nothing “normal” about any of them. Rachel: the loser in choir who thinks the world should bow to her, Kurt: the awkward closeted gay kid who gets thrown in dumpsters every day, Artie: the crippled kid nobody even pays attention to, Tina: the strange emo girl, and Mercedes: the hidden super-diva that nobody at school knows. When Mr. Schuester first started trying to revive the Glee Club at school he didn’t get any of the cool, popular kids; he got the awkwardly weird kids that nobody liked. Isn’t it amazing to see how Mr. Schuester took 5 weird, unpopular, kids and turned them into the New Directions group that won sectionals two years in a row? The really incredible thing isn’t that Mr. Schuester was able to turn these geeks into amazingness, but rather the connection that all this has to the Gospel!

When Jesus called the 12 apostles to follow him, one would think it would make more sense for him to pick quite prominent members of society. With preachers, wealthy benefactors, politicians, etc. behind his back Jesus would have had the resources to spread his message quickly and easily throughout the land. However, in the Gospels we know that this is not what happened. The men Jesus called were “nobodies” in society. Many of them were fishermen, and Matthew was even a Roman Tax Collector, a job which was absolutely despised at the time because tax collectors would always collect a little extra than they were supposed to and keep it for themselves. Though, apparently Jesus knew what he was doing as this group of nobodies was able to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world, continuing the work of God’s Holy Catholic Church.

When he was on Earth Jesus didn’t hunt out the people who were perfect, but rather loved and embraced people nobody else would despite their imperfections, and through God’s grace they were able to accomplish great things. How beautiful it truly is that God still works this way even now. God doesn’t look for perfect people to bring about his kingdom; he rather chooses to use regular, ordinary people to do the extraordinary. I know I’ll never be perfect, but that doesn’t matter because God doesn’t want me to be perfect. Like I said, God calls the ordinary and uses them to accomplish the extraordinary. You can accomplish extraordinary things if you allow God to work through you. How incredible is that?

“Thank you Jesus for giving me a real, personal relationship with you despite my sinfulness and imperfections. Help me to never forget that no matter how ordinary I feel, I am always extraordinary in your eyes. Guide me, that I may never forget that incredible, never ending love you have for me.”

Part I: Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream"

Music reflects the culture of it's audience. It expresses the desires and longings of the one singing and the ones listening. It conveys their values and moral standards as well. Most of you probably don't think twice about Katy Perry. You wrote her off when she came out with her single "I kissed a Girl" and things didn't get much better with her new album featuring "California Girls". Despite your opinions of her lyrics her songs quickly rise to the top of the charts. This has to say something about our culture. Right?

What exactly is it that my generation longs for?

In "Teenage Dream" Perry, in my perspective, combines two ideas of love. She merges the idea of having shelter within another person's heart (a type of pure and fulfilling love) with a fleeting love that is rapidly approaching the border of lust. Now only the artist knows the true meaning of their work. I however, as the audience, am entitled to my interpretation. The message I see Perry conveying, and her fans seeking out, is that there is hope for true love, a love that will sweep you off your feet and make you feel like your "living a teenage dream."

I don't think I need to explain the "teenage dream" metaphor but for those of you who maybe out of touch with it here is a quick explanation: to a teenager, typically the female ones, their dream of love is a handsome guy who will court them; someone who will serenade them outside their window late at night. They want someone who will make them feel complete, loved, sheltered, and taken care of.

Now in our culture filled with the ideology that sex is recreational, men become animals. The teenage dream is crushed and the hope of finding a gentleman is thrown out the window. Let's be honest, Katy Perry didn't find her soul mate. I will even venture to say that all she found was a one night stand who left her heart-broken and searching for true love. Why do I say that?

If you look at her lyrics you'll see that her imagery starts off with true love. "I know you get me/ So I'll let my walls come down." exemplifies that love involves risk. "I was a wreck... You brought me to life" demonstrates the constructive aspects of pure love. But then she throws that all away for one guy's touch. She believes love is out their simply by the reaction her heart has from a touch in her skin tight jeans or when he looks at her. She claims to "find [her] missing puzzle piece." Truth be told that despite these images of true love, Perry throws all that down the drain with imagery of fleeting, uncommitted love. I don't know about you but my dream of love doesn't include anything along the lines of getting drunk, renting a hotel room, and trying to convince myself that I can go all the way tonight and tomorrow I won't have to look back.

Yet people love hearing this. People love hearing about a love where their heart stops. Um, Katy Perry... Did you realize that when your hearts stops you're dead? If this was about true love you heart should be racing. Now given you're way too drunk and horny to see this but you have to realize that what you're conveying is simply a one night stand that only leaves you longing for more.

Now if you want love, or should I say LOVE! Then might I suggest reading Song of Songs in the Bible or listening to Matt Maher's "Set me as a Seal". Those include images that won't deceive you. They portray a true love that captures the same sensual love Perry talks of. HOWEVER this sensual love is not self centered or strictly there as sensual love like in "Teenage Dream". Take the challenge to do one of my suggestions. What are your opinions?

Our culture longs for love but they aren't willing to put forth the work. They give up so easily and settle for sensual love when their heart longs for sacrificial love in which they give of their whole self.

Follow along Tuesday for a continuation on Katy Perry and Culture. We'll be looking at her song "Firework" in conjunction with this blog post.


(To Be Continued...)

Super Bowl Sunday!!!!!

For a good percentage of Americans, this Sunday is one of the most important days of the whole year. The Super Bowl really is what football season is all about, the day we’ve all been waiting for. In case you are wondering who I’m rooting for…I’m all for the Packers because I love Aaron Rodgers. I know that’s not really relevant to this post, but I thought I’d throw it out there.

I really love seeing how Super Bowl Sunday is an extreme high point in the year for most Americans. Think about it… First think of all the millions of people who will be watching football. When asking people if they like football the two most popular answers are usually “Yes absolutely”, or “I usually only watch the Super Bowl.” Next, think about all that we get besides the best football game of the year: the best commercials of the century always air during the Super Bowl because of all the extra viewers, and we also usually get a pretty amazing entertainment show. This year Rachel from Glee will sing “America the Beautiful” before the game, and the Black Eyed Peas have the halftime show, so I’m super excited!! Finally, think

about the sense of community that the Super Bowl creates. How many people attend super bowl parties with friends and family? The food, drinks, and football on this day in particular bring people together in a very special, beautiful way. How truly empty football season would be without this incredible feast to end the season with!!

Super Bowl Sunday has clearly become an extreme “High Point” in our country’s calendar. Did you ever realize that the Church has its own “High Point” which gives everything else its meaning? Well it does, and the beautiful thing about the Church’s “High Point” comes a lot more often than just the one a year Super Bowl. Of course I’m talking about the Mass!

Take a step back and just think about the power of the Mass. Through it we find the absolute fullness of religious truth, as well as establish an incredible connection with God Himself! The mass is filled with beautiful music, begging God to forgive us, praising the infinite greatness of God’s love, listening to the Word of God in Scripture…and that’s just in the first half of the mass! We spend the entire second half of mass preparing for the most powerful mystery of our faith: The Eucharist. Though the Eucharist God himself not only becomes REALLY AND TRULY PRESENT (not just a symbol), but he actually enters our body as food. God himself literally feeds us with himself. What could be a better “High Point” than gathering together as a community of faith to engage in such a deep and powerful mystery? Everything we do as Catholics finds its high point in the Mass. Just as football season would make absolutely no sense without Super Bowl Sunday, a Christian life without the Mass would be just as empty and meaningless. What an incredibly amazing mystery the mass truly is!!

“Lord Jesus thank you for giving your Church the Mass as its central and highest form of prayer. Help us to see the Mass as the most important, most heavenly part of our lives. Give us a renewed love for the Mass. Allow the graces we receive at Mass to penetrate into our entire being, truly giving our lives meaning and focus.”

Poker Face by Lady Gaga

Oh yes! I'm going there. It's about time someone tackles the surprisingly complex creative mind of Lady Gaga. I refuse to think that her sole intent and motivation for her lyrics is sex. She can't be blessed with so much vocal and musical talent to throw it away for cheap fame. Or can she?

Anyways, if you peel back the obvious references to sex I would say that Poker Face is themed around identity and accepting the cards you've been dealt in life.

First off the lyrics open with a metaphor about Texas Hold 'Em. At the surface, this metaphor is obviously about "[playing] the cards... That's on his heart." But the original metaphor of life being like playing cards is much deeper. In life we are dealt certain cards to play with. Some we "hold 'em," others we "fold 'em." Really your playing poker in life. You have to live life with the cards you've been given, what other people have in their hand you have no control over.

Then Lady Gaga has this feeling of "He can't read my poker face." To me that sounds like it could mean something along the lines of 'He doesn't understand me.' In poker you want to win. You have to make the most of what you got. Sometimes your blessed and other times you have to make a 2 and a Jack (of different suits) work. But really a poker face just creates a barrier between you and the other players. They don't know if your happy or sad. They don't understand you essentially. That's rough. And it's lonely. Poker is not a team sport. You fly solo. Though in cards having a poker face is beneficial. In life, it can cause a lot of hurt.

Delving deeper, to Love means to take risks. "Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun." Thus love is not the same without risk. (Please don't take this analogy as love is death. It most certainly isn't). Anyways, with these lyrics I feel like Lady Gaga let someone behind her poker face. She let her walls down because she wanted to love this person. To love someone fully you have to open yourself up to them. Allow them to understand you; allow them to experience all of you. It's risky business and can cause a lot of pain. But it's necessary to "show him what I got." The lyrics lead me to infer that this experience of love left her hurt seeing as she sings the lines "She's got to love nobody" in her refrain. I guess you could look at this from two perspectives. The first being that she got hurt or the second as a realization. For those of you who saw the movie Eat, Pray, Love you may recall the scene where Liz yells at Felipe that she doesn't need to love someone else to prove she loves herself. That is how I wish to take it. I hope to believe that this is where Lady Gaga accepts the cards she's been given in life and loves herself for them. After all she does sing, "Check this hand cause I'm Marvelous!"

Now the real question, Where is God?

From my own experience in life I would say that God is in the line "Check this hand cause I'm Marvelous!" I've felt the sting of playing with cards I didn't necessarily want. I let it get to me. And because of that I put up a poker face and made sure no one could understand the real me. Somewhere along those lines though I took a chance at love and let my guard down. I began to realize how "marvelous" I really am. In The midst of chaos I was able to find God in my search for love and my search for identity. I found God helping me understand how I need to play my cards. I guess what I'm trying to say is I stopped asking God to give me new cards and instead embraced the ones he's given me. My cards are really my cross, but without those cards there is no way I can win the jackpot of eternal joy in heaven.

So Lady Gaga's song maybe all about sex. Only she knows. The great thing about art is that there is also your perspective. So take with it what you will.

Love is a risk, but it's worth finding that shelter in someone else, especially God.