This is my little silly attempt at a blog. The idea here is that I will use this as a place where I write some of the deeper thoughts regarding religious matters that actually does pass through the grey matter in my head occasionally. Hopefully this will be a more constructive and valuable contribution to the messy interwebs than my previous array of webpages and forums I’ve been active in creating.
I’ve decided to write in english. Even though it is not my native tongue. In this day and age of globalization and connectivity across even the mightiest oceans, I ask if I could I have any other options!? I think everyone who will care about this blog will still be able to understand it, and to my swedish ears, the title “In spite of me…” sounds way cooler in english, and if I have an english title, I might aswell do everything in the same language. Consistency is important.
The title then. The prhase “In spite of” according to Meriam-Webster:
in spite of : in defiance or contempt of : without being prevented by
As with many other ideas and thoughts I get, which you probably will notice if you stay around here, I stole this from the lyrics of a song. Plankeye, in a song titled Whisper to me, sings:
Isn’t it great how You work in spite of me?
The meaning I draw from it, and the thing I wish to have as some sort of theme here perhaps, is that in spite of me, my failures, mistakes, missinterpritations, outright errors, weaknesses, wrongdoings, sin and worthlessness, God keeps working. He is not prevented by them or me, and when necessary, he does his work even in defiance of me and sometimes even through those things. As I see it, this is a source of relief and joy. It is not dependant on me. It’s not by my power or strength. It is all just grace. It’s all just God.
The nice picture of a dandelion that has passed it’s prime and is now releasing it’s seeds, and the short description below the title, also came from a song. This one by Five Iron Frenzy. Another of my favorite bands. The song is called Dandelions, and to me what it proclaims is somewhat close to the theme. God sees flowers in these weeds, and works through them for his glory.
The image is, in my own very humble opinion, a very poethic and nice motif for the theme. The withering flower, scorned and disliked, brings and spreads about new life, not through its own making but by the power of the wind. Maybe?
I’ll throw in a bible verse to strengthen my choice of theme. Using the modern english “The Message” paraphrase, 2 Cor 4:7:
We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that.
Well, who am I then? David is my name. I live in Linköping, Sweden. Currently working, but the plan is to educate myself some more this fall. I’ve applied to the theological program the university here runs. We’ll see where that leads.
I’m striving and struggling to find out what it means to live in accordance to the words and example of Jesus Christ, my saviour and God. Which to me means that I’m a non-violent, christ-archist, who try to live as simple a life as I can. More exact thoughts and ponderations regarding these subject will no doubt come. I can’t write everything I have to say in my first post now can I?
How was that for a first attempt?