I hope this video makes you angry. Sut Jhally "is one of the world's leading scholars looking at the role played by advertising and popular culture in the processes of social control and identity construction." In this documentary, he takes a very sobering view of how the makers of music videos are in many ways creating a culture of objectification. After watching this documentary (Dreamworlds 3), I was left feeling angry because it helped me to see just how manipulated I had been. The first time I heard this documentary mentioned was in a graduate degree course called "Social and Cultural Exegesis" which was basically about taking a critical look at our current world and attempting to analyze and interpret some of the social and cultural issues and trends. To say the least, it was an eye opening class.
Watching this documentary made me all the more thankful of God's love for me and the reality that I am made in the image of God and that my value comes God and what He says about me and not from what this world says about who I am or who other people are. I hope that this short preview (I do recommend watching the whole documentary) has opened your eyes a bit more to the reality of the way that this world is continually trying to manipulate the way you see yourself and the way you see others. We all have a choice, you can either believe what God says about you or you can believe what the world says about you. You choose.
I love the fact that I am able to recognize beauty. That beauty can warm my heart and quicken my spirit and take my breath away. Sometimes, I can take this God given gift for granted. But, when it does overtake me, I am reminded again of just how amazing a Creator we have.
Pretty cool stuff considering it was done through timelapse photography. If you want to check out more of this person's art go here.
How amazing is this! Who would have thought that ice could be so beautiful? What an amazing Creator we have! Not only because He created all of this, but also because He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27) so that we are able to appreciate beauty. It almost makes me want to go to Greenland. Almost. I'm just glad that I can take in all the beauty without all the coldness. I guess if you really wanted the full experience (in lieu of actually traveling to Greenland) you could wait until winter and watch this video outside while you stand or sit in the snow. To each his own. Enjoy!
Have you ever had one of these days? You know the kind where you feel blurry, like you're just out of sync. It's not that you feel dreary, like you're just wishing the day to end, because there's still beauty to your life and you still know that you're loved. It's just that you feel fuzzy, like you're missing some crucial component. You know, that one piece that will bring everything into focus.
Jesus does that for me. He brings everything into focus for me. When I have blurry or fuzzy days, He brings focus and clarity to my day. Wait, even more than that He brings vision to the way I live my life. Have you ever wondered what all the fuss is about when it comes to Jesus? What is it that you think the powers that be don't want you to know? Maybe it's because He helps people see through the blurriness and fuzziness of this life by giving them eyes to see into eternity.
I know that this video is about the need to recycle plastic (in which I agree). But, seeing bottle after bottle of water being drained away reminds me that we all have this insatiable thirst within us that will never be quenched. Though we drink and drink and drink, we will always have to drink more. This reminds me of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well who was also thirsting (John 4:1-45), but her thirst was for more than just water, she thirsted to be loved and accepted. But, because of her brokenness and shame, instead of finding lasting security, she wandered from lover to lover.
When Jesus encounters her, He offers her what her heart's been thristing for: He offers her eternal security (John 4:13-14). In this divinely orchestrated moment, He loves and accepts her just as she is and then offers her Himself, the Messiah, the Savior of her soul (John 4:26). The One who will satisfy the eternal thirst of her heart. What is it that you thirst for? Have you allowed Jesus to satisfy your eternal thirst?
