Wednesday 29 July 2009

on faith


i'm not an 'overtly' religious person. and like most people (i suspect), any thoughts i have on the matter have always been kept to myself, for one reason or another.

i have always been perplexed by faith, Man's need for it, the things Man has done - and continues to do in it's name and in the quest for it. i realised at a very young age that pretty much all pain, war, misery, cruelty, suffering Man has committed and endured has it's roots in religion or faith.

but come the 21st century, we can tweet such inner thoughts. and i did this morning. just the one thought. and the responses came back. so, i thought i'd share them here...

@redalexred said "I like to think it's knowledge without proof."

@simonplotkin
offered "
belief in spite of lack of evidence."

@713punky proffered "
having faith doesn't require proof. faith is a belief that everything will happen as it should."

then added

"
faith is believing that no matter what proves otherwise,, you still commit."

@ilicco defined 'faith' as "
Faith IMO allows u 2blame some1 else when things don't go ur way, & thank some1 else when they do. Keeps u from blaming urself."

what i love about what happened this morning, is what i love about twitter; what to me, is the essence of twitter. every now & then, a tweet will inspire or coax the most head-scratching, heart warming profundities. yes, to the depths of 140 characters; and beyond.

the thought provoking replies also surprised me, in that they made me trawl back through my twitterstream on the bus to work, to re-read my original tweet.

how had i referred to faith? in what context had i suggested or used the word? for, to me, the above responses opened the meaning wide up.

and maybe that was the greatest gift.

faith isn't always of a religious nature. is it? or maybe it is religious by nature?

the individual hearts of the above twitterati seemed to shine through in their responses and made me smile.

i could have told you who had tweeted each of the above thoughts without knowing in advance.

or i'd like to think i would.

either way, i wanted to share.

because these things should be.

i find it fascinating that we all seem to either claim 'ownership' of our faith, or give praise and thanks for it, like it is something bestowed on us. maybe it is.

it seems to me that faith is often blamed for people not taking ownership or responsibility. but, in the handful of tweeted thoughts above, this all seemed turned on it's head. not something i've ever thought of before. i read in there, proud claims on faith. as if to say 'this is my faith, and it makes this possible.'

but then, it was a long bus journey and it's been a long day... and i think too much...

heartfelt thanks to those who answered my random tweet this morning & gave me further food for thought.





you were right





you were right
it's too wide
this landscape of night

legs restlessly reach
long, lazy, lonely swipes
this nocturnal kicking sleep

pillows laugh from the floor
too light, glowing
in the darkness between

turn for a different view
arms still imagine you
my skin knows I'm missing you

you were right


Sunday 19 July 2009

4 x 4 (Part 3)


Part 3.

Sunday.

3m 33secs.

(an observation: the thing about this little experiment is that it allows little time to mull over ideas - everything is done on the fly. the most revision i've done is to scrap an idea 20-30mins in, only to start again. nothing i've done so far seems particularly good/exciting, but i think today's is the one i'm least unhappy with. we'll see what tomorrow holds...)

Saturday 18 July 2009

4 in 4: part 2


Part 2.

Saturday.

2m 22secs.

"...the jingle-jangle of a thousand lost souls..."

'enjoy'.

4 x 4 (part 1)


we can all get too lazy & comfortable.

we can all make excuses. i know i'm always making excuses for not getting things done.

so, as i have Monday off, i thought i'd try an experiment...

record 4 new tracks in 4 days. one a day. not that scary. everything new - no working from old ideas. no finishing off old songs. these will be 4 new tracks written n' recorded on the fly.

to make it a little more interesting, i thought i'd use the following times:

day 1 - friday - today: 1m 11secs
day 2: 2m 22secs
day 3: 3m 33 secs
day 4: 4m 44 secs

i've just finished track 1. you can find it here if you're curious.

'enjoy'.

oh, and have a great weekend!

Thursday 2 July 2009

this is a call



Originally uploaded by bobcat rock

there's a phone box
be there
the phone will ring
pick up

there'll be a voice
listen
there'll be a question
answer

there'll be an alley
don't turn around
there'll be some worry
don't run aground

there'll be rubbish
don't look for weapons
there'll be passersby
don't eye them with questions

there'll be a blacked out building
don't look for me there
there's an open window
you can't go through

there'll be some shadow
don't try to hide there
there'll be something heavy
hanging in the air

there'll be a cool breeze
breathe while you can

breathe while you can