Every December, what are some things we see every single year? Often Christmas lights, Christmas movies, gifts, specials, songs, and loads of other stuff (like candy growing on trees). What I was wondering was, why do we only listen to Christmas music during Christmas season? Is something wrong with it the rest of the year?
The reason why I'm even mentioning this is because recently I found myself listening to a very good song; and it was a Christmas song. To be specific, it was Jackie Evancho's "O Holy Night".
I would advise listening to this as you read
It is a very good song, sung by a very good singer, and has a very good message. What about that dictates it can only be heard once a year? And for that matter, what dictates we can only listen to "Christmas" music during that season? Most people listen to the same Christmas songs nonstop for the time surrounding Christmas, then don't hear them for the rest of the year. Often times when someone puts on a Christmas song (this person usually being me) another person actually asks them to turn it off. Why is this? Because the song is a Christmas song..........................
And that means it can't be played any other time? I'm still figuring that one out. Okay, so I do like the music. There are some really good Christmas songs out there. And if a song sounds good, why not listen to it? Especially if it has a good meaning. Okay, I feel like I'm repeating myself here.
But that song I was listening to, "O Holy Night", is actually off an EP of the same name. On it are four songs sung by Jackie Evancho "Silent Night" "Panis Angelicus" "O Holy Night" and "Pie Jesu". So maybe this post is a bit of a review as well... along with being a bit of a rant. But it is still a good album nonetheless, even if the reason I'm talking about it is because I'm complaining/ranting.
Now speaking about playing Christmas songs other than in the Christmas season, I listen to Jackie's songs all through out the year. That also means I am listening to these four songs from this album in the middle of a Texas summer as well. Now what's wrong with that? Well, I don't know. Other people manage to find something wrong with it. It doesn't always make sense, but it's tradition or something.
Well I am going to start a new tradition. Listen to good music through out the entire year! And fortunately for me, Jackie is coming out with another cd (full length cd) on November 1st. This will be the third release of a cd in a single year for her, her other two ( "O Holy Night" and "Dream With Me") have been certified Platinum and Gold (respectively) at the present time. Already she's making, or has already made, a third album. This newest album will be called "Heavenly Christmas" and I believe available only through Walmart. Here's a link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/17656937
This is the cover for her latest album
The most interesting part? At the time of writing this, that album doesn't even have any album art and yet people are already pre-ordering it [Edit: it seems Walmart posted some cover art for it literally hours after me making that statement, go figure. Posted the album art above]! You want to know why? Because those people are smart and are willing to listen to good music any time of the year. I imagine I will be listening to these Christmas songs next summer. After all, why just on Christmas?
Anyway, here's a music video from her Christmas album just last year.
I guess I've said all that I need to say... I think. If I find anything else to complain about, I'll do it another time. Or anything to rant about... or review... or advertise... or rant about....
Back to listening to good music, regardless of what season it is!
So it is obvious now that I really enjoy talking about Jackie Evancho. This post is no exception. The day before writing this I had the privilege of seeing her perform live, in person. But a few things happened.
This served as a countdown both through her twitpics down to the day before when she flew to Dallas, and as a countdown for my final hours before seeing her perform. I think she has improved in just the few weeks since this was recorded in Atlanta.
Then I got to see her. Here is the "review" that I wrote, hopefully with proper spelling [WARNING MASS READING AHEAD]
The entire day counting down to the performance was unique. First off, I could hardly sleep, and had to take multiple naps throughout the day to make up for that. I am rarely this excited for anything. Spending the entire day waiting was not easy, so I made an entire tribute video and posted it to YouTube in the morning and later that day did a workout and took my naps (one before and one after). Still had to wait several more hours; but… eventually the time came. After getting the best clothes on that I had (ones that were black and red, of course), “Off to Dallas” I was!
When I arrived (which is saying a lot in Dallas), I walked around for awhile. Eventually, I was able to meet up with a few other Jackie Fans (first by meeting Craig Rasmussen, who introduced me to several others) and we talked for awhile. Finally it came time to get to our seats.
After I was seated up front, stage left in the Orchestra section, the wait began once again. Strangely though, I wasn’t excited like I had been earlier. After leaving my house, I grew very calm. Sitting in my seat, I continued to feel very peaceful. As it turned out, this feeling was the calm before the storm. While sitting in my seat, I realized I didn’t know what I was in for. Boy, was I right about that. Seeing the Dallas Symphony Orchestra accompanying Jackie Evancho was quite the experience. Many professionals are beginning to say she could be the world’s best singer, if not history’s (she has some fans in high places it seems). Yeah… I didn’t know what I was in for.
My wait soon came to an end. The lights were dimmed and the conductor came out. The orchestra proceeded to play several pieces. I was trying to use my new found experience (read: three class sessions in music appreciation) to identify all the instruments and pick certain aspects of the songs out. As I found out, I had much to learn. This is what was going through my mind during this part (from what I can remember), “And that’s an oboe, I think. That’s an English horn. That’s a double bass, glad I got that one right. Those are timpani’s, and there’s the bass drum. And those are flutes… I think. And that’s an oboe. No! That looks nothing like an oboe! I just really like that name.” As you can probably tell, I was enjoying myself. I was new to the more classical style music as well, so it was very enjoyable to hear some live.
As the first piece progressed, I became very impressed. There were several parts where I felt like clapping or cheering if it had not been an orchestra. When the first piece was over, I determined I definitely thought it was worth a hearty clap (is there such a thing?), even though I had no clue what the piece actually was. The second piece played was nice as well, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. Always so picky…
When this second piece was done, the conductor announced Jackie coming up, which received a fair amount of applause. After saying this, he turned around and begins directing the orchestra through the beginning of “Lovers”, which is one of my favorite of Jackie’s songs. There was the steady build up in the intro, lasting a total of maybe 45 seconds to a minute. Mid way through this, Jackie walked out, which sent the crowd into uproar and standing ovation, drowning out the sound of the orchestra. Fortunately, the crowd managed to quiet down in time for the orchestra to finish the dramatic intro of the song, then it quieted down and Jackie began to sing.
The events that happened in this song are too blurred. She immediately held the entire audience captive. Even some others who sat by me, who I assumed who regulars at symphonies, seemed dead quiet. Fortunately for me, my seat was right in front of the large speakers, so I heard the song rather loudly. I always played this song louder then any others, so I didn’t complain AT ALL. When Jackie finished the song, there was a momentary silence as the orchestra finished fading out. I was in a daze or something, and it never even occurred to me to stand or clap or anything. But I didn’t have to remember, I was reminded when the entire audience stood up nearly at once and gave a standing ovation like I had never heard before. It put to shame even the standing ovation she received when she walked on stage. Jackie hadn’t seemed to be expecting this (I hadn’t either), and she was jumping around on the stage, curtsying, giving her trademark double wave, clapping with the audience, and I could she that she was laughing and had a bright beaming smile on her face.
Once the crowd died down from this standing ovation, the orchestra began “Ombra Mai Fu”. I recognized this one quickly, even though it was probably the song I enjoyed least on her CD. I never had enjoyed the overall tone of the song before, having this strange skipping/dancing/happy/sad blend to it that didn’t suit me (I liked the darker, deeper feeling songs such as “Lovers” which we had just heard). However, I wasn’t there for the song selection. I was there for the voice singing the songs. And in this particular song, Jackie does some very nice notes. I was always impressed by what she could do with this song, as it is an opera song I believe. It requires great skill to sing, and sing it she did. This song received LEAST applause from the audience out of all the songs, and by that I mean at least 15-20 seconds of shouts, cheers, and of course the standing ovation.
Finally I got to see the harp on stage in action. As soon as I had seen that harp before I knew what song it was for, and now here it was. The harp was for “The Lord’s Prayer”. This hadn’t been one of my favorites either, but hearing the orchestra perform it live made me appreciate it much more. Out of all the songs that night, I enjoyed hearing the orchestra perform this one the most (I think) beyond what I already felt about any song. Naturally though, hearing Jackie sing it was something else. I particularly felt something special when she sang “Thy Kingdom come” and the next several lines after, but that is for another time. Naturally, this received quite the uproar as well from the crowd once it was finished. Not a single song that night would go without a standing ovation and such major enthusiasm from the crowd. She also reacted strongly to the crowd here as well, since the crowd was giving her such applause.
After this, Jackie sang “All I Ask of You” and “To Believe”. By this time, I was so drawn into Jackie’s voice that afterwards I literally forgot that she sang these songs at this point! I remember my eyes being locked on her during these songs, especially “To Believe” to the exclusion of everything else. As a matter of fact, by the time she got to To Believe everything around Jackie was a blur in my eyes and my muscles were beginning to twitch. I can’t remember much else of what happened during these two songs, except that I was very surprised to here “All I Ask of You” (didn’t know she would sing that song) and enjoyed Jackie giving the spoken prayer during “To Believe”.
The next song was “O Mio Babbino Caro”. I recognized this one quickly as well, since it was the song that introduced me to her so long before it seemed. This was the song that made her famous on “America’s Got Talent” after all. As it was during most of the songs, I can’t remember what happened as she sang, I was to drawn in. This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. She received a very animate standing ovation with the completion of this song as well, just as all the others.
When the intermission came after “O Mio Babbino Caro” I wasn’t sure what had happened. I don’t think I had ever been so focused on a song before. I wasn’t even capable of focusing on the orchestra. Once the intermission was over and everyone was seated, the orchestra began playing once again. This time, it took me a couple minutes to even notice there was music playing compared to what I had just experienced. Compared to Jackie’s voice live, very few things qualify as even note worthy music in my, oh so humble opinion.
It was time for Jackie to come back up. She was announced once again, and by this time I can hardly even remember what happened. Either she received another standing ovation as she entered or the orchestra began to play the mellow intro of “When You Wish Upon A Star” so the audience had to refrain. As it should go without saying once more, she received a standing ovation. I can’t even remember what happened because I was so drawn in.
My favorite song, “A Time For Us” was next. When I recognized the beginning of that song, I was pretty dang happy. Of course, I can’t remember much of what happened because my eyes, ears and mind were locked on watching perform to the exclusion of almost everything else. The irony of the situation is the most recent events I have the hardest time remembering. But, that’s Jackie for ya! However, I did remember that this song received some of the loudest, and longest, applause (and naturally all during a standing ovation).
“Angel” “The Impossible Dream” and “Pie Jesu” followed as the final songs. My memory is almost blank here, except for the fact that it was intense for me. However, it seems that “Pie Jesu”, which was supposed to be the encore song, was done without Jackie ever leaving the stage. The audience was giving her such a thundering applause (2,000+ people in a very well built acoustical room like that) that it was decided to do the encore immediately. This was one of the songs I was waiting for, and it was also one of the ones that made her famous on “America’s Got Talent”. She has moved so beyond that now. I’m pretty sure that the only reason there were people sitting during the standing ovations was because they either had knee problems or were in to much shock. I can’t prove this theory, of course, but I’m pretty sure that was the reason.
After she finished the final song, she received a very resounding applause once again. When that died down, she gave a short “thank you” speech and even, for the first time I had heard of, called us her “support”. She repeated that phrase multiple times. She is so mature and quick, but even the excitement got to her a bit as she stumbled with her sentences slightly (I have heard politicians do worse on their well rehearsed speeches, and I’m pretty sure this wasn’t rehearsed). Once she finished this, there was another standing ovation. When she exited the stage there was yet ANOTHER standing ovation, this one lasting nearly two whole minutes if not more. Jackie came up at least three, if not four for additional waves, curtsies, smiles, giggles, etc during this time.
Overall, this performance has locked Jackie even more solidly in as my favorite artist. No other artist or band even comes close now. She has broadened my tastes of music so much, and even given me songs that I may never tire of. I hope one day to witness her live in concert again.
A few other events that happened throughout the night. I can’t remember when these happened, just that they did.
The first was early on. After one of the standing ovations had died down, Jackie bent down to get a drink of water and someone shouted “Jackie say hi!” so she popped up and gave one of her cute little hi’s.
Of course, as I said, I had never witnessed her so excited from a crowd. While she was being cheered, it appeared she didn’t know whether she wanted to jump up and down, curtsy, tug on her dress, give her double wave, clap for the orchestra, or whatever else she was doing. Jackie was just having so much fun up there. Even those who are blind or deaf can enjoy Jackie.
At one point during a standing ovations (during one of the final ones I believe), Jackie was doing her jumps and curtsies and double waves, when she turned around and gave a double wave to the orchestra and those in the Choral Terrace. Nearly everyone up there stood up and gave her a double wave back. It was really something.
Another time was when someone shouted “Thank you” and Jackie said the same back.
My favorite by far was after this. When she had said “Thank you” back to the crowd there were many laughs and giggles in the audience. Jackie giggled at this to, then after a moment, gave a big double wave to the audience. This sent waves of laughter throughout the entire audience, amidst some clapping. I felt that the audience was on the verge of a standing ovation… for simply having Jackie wave at them. What other artists can do that?
A few other memorable moments for me happened outside in the lobby. My second favorite little moment was while I was walking out and heard someone behind me comment to a friend “I felt ambushed… but in a good way!” I am sure many others that night felt “ambushed” as well by Jackie’s charm and talent.
Other moments were when I was walking around and seeing people (especially grown, tough looking men) wearing Jackie shirts or proudly holding her cd in their hand (I even saw a man use it as a fan for his face, he didn’t want to let it get very far from him!)
There were probably many other wonderful moments I forgot, or even complete songs, but it’s the experience that counts. I was there. I witnessed what may be the world’s, if not history’s, best singer live in her youth. I even learned many things about myself. So this is a review or critique, right? I only wish I could describe that night to you. So since I can’t, I will simply repeat something I have said before,
“God decided to show off, so he made Jackie Evancho”
What is one of the best ways to increase the effectiveness of any body? Not just the body of an animal or person, but of a business, or even country. The answer (or at least one of them)? Give it better leadership. Take an ordinary business and give it an incredibly good CEO, and that business can soar. Take an ordinary computer and upgrade it's software, you can do a lot. One of my favorite examples of this is with Hannibal the Great of Carthage. Carthage and Rome were at war, Rome being greater at this point. So Hannibal took an ordinary army from a weak nation and caused havoc in the very homeland of Rome for years; going as far as the gates of Rome itself. Rome was a great empire even then, but when a weaker enemy was given a great leader, they were at risk of being destroyed.
Another one of my favorite examples is giving a person a very good brain. By simply having a brain, the thing that controls and leads the entire body, work differently, all sorts of things could happen. That person could have increased discipline, learning ability, and the capability to do things at a young age that normally takes people decades to learn. Well are there people like this? Yes, they are usually known as prodigies. Do I happen to be talking about a specific prodigy? Yes, I am. Her name is Jackie Evancho.
Here is an example of what she can do:
This is an older example too. At the present time, it has been more than a year since this was recorded. In that amount of time, she has improved as much as normal singers improve after several years. She has even come out with a cd, called "Dream With Me", produced by David Foster. She improved so fast, that after recording the cd's, Foster actually stated that he wanted to go back and rerecord them. She had improved greatly in a matter of months.
People had been speculating for a long time about how she could be so good, on a physical basis. Jackie herself states that it is a gift from God, and I fully agree with her. However, that still left me wondering how He chose to bless her. Then I watched an interview that mentioned a good theory:
The brain. It all made sense. By simply changing the way her brain worked, it would explain how her little body could be decades better than it should be. It has superior leadership. Not just in singing and understanding music, but the fact that she can learn songs very quickly and not forget lyrics (to date, I have not seen of or heard a SINGLE instance where she forgot lyrics), amongst many other things. A superior (at least in many aspects) brain would change the way the whole body works, just as giving a business a far superior CEO. Her mind would also help explain why she acts so mature, but that I attribute mainly to how she was raised (well done Mr. and Mrs. Evancho); however, the fact that even in interviews she is so quick and clever can also be attributed to the way her brain works differently.
Of course, this is all just a theory. But once I heard this theory, everything made sense.
Another aspect of this that was explained was how she responds to music. When she sings in front of a large audience, it seems as if she goes into a trance or something. Her mind is absorbed by the music.
Here is an example:
Notice how at the end of the song, she has so much emotion on her face than seems to come out of a trance or something. She was drawn into it. Her talent and love of singing, along with many other things, all make sense when you consider that it could be her mind that is different.
Of course though, we can't forget who gave her that mind. I hope she never forgets. Many say she is the last messenger, or one of the Almighty's last rays of light into the darkness before the end times. I feel she might have a purpose to that scale. Could her incredible mind be the Creator's choice for directing a few more eyes towards him before His wrath comes crashing down? I will be waiting, watching, and praying.
How often do we think about the little things that happen every single day? Such as why a red light turned green at a certain time, or which foot we put first and why. These little things we pretty much take for granted, and don't even bother thinking there's any rhyme or reason to them. However, if you believe as I do, they were all part of a grand plan. That brings me to something I realized a few weeks before writing this post. One of the little things...
Hopefully if you've read this blog before you will know that one of my favorite (okay, my absolute favorite) artist is Jackie Evancho. Her story, as far as most of the world is concerned, is that she first surfaced on America's Got Talent because of a Youtube audition. It is this audition that I'm talking about here. From what I hear (this is not simply my opinion, but what I've heard from people who know a few things) she is arguably the best singer in the world, if not history. Even before she auditioned on AGT. However, for whatever reason, her first two normal auditions were never accepted and she did not get to stand before the judges.
Thinking about that one day, I realized something. There was a reason for that. When most people audition on that stage, they come up to introduce themself then do their thing on the stage. Here's an example of how a normal audition in front of the judges works:
I use this video of Anna Graceman because I am currently listening to her while I type this post.
However, things ended up different for Jackie. As I said, she auditioned twice but was rejected and never got to stand in front of the judges in a normal audition as Anna above did. Instead, one year AGT decided to incorporate a Youtube Audition, where the audition with most votes would make it into the 12 finalists (if I remember correct). Well, she was by far the most voted audition from what I hear. And because of her being refused two years then brought in because of the Youtube Audition, she gets a nice stage setup for her performance:
The lights are setup, there is the fog, and just the whole mood has been set. If she had been accepted on one of her other two normal auditions, none of this would have happened. But, because she was waited two years (willingly or not), her first performance in front of America was made wonderful. Far better than a normal audition.
I wonder how many other fans have thought about this. It's the little things like this we don't think about, or even complain about. Many fans would say it's a stupid thing that she wasn't accepted sooner. But I say, it's a good thing. It allowed her to grow even more skilled, and have a beautifully setup stage with everything focusing on her for her first big appearance in front of America. It set it up for her to blow us away even more than a normal audition.
So why am I bringing any of this up? Because I believe that all these things, big and small, are part of a plan. Jackie Evancho's first appearance in front of America was setup by someone far, far beyond this world. He had a great plan, and it involved Jackie being revealed in this way. She was revealed to the UK in a similar way, as a guest on Britain's Got Talent:
(You have to actually follow the link, as embeding is disabled)
The stage was set, and I don't mean that in a literal way. We can't look over the little things so easily, they have meaning. They have signifigance. So sometime you should just stop and think about these little things that happen to you, or have happened. Maybe as you think about them, you will see part of the bigger picture. When I was thinking about the signifigance about Jackie's first appearance on AGT, I suddenly saw part of the bigger picture. Give it a try.
This post will be a little less about my thoughts on things, and more about my experiences. It will also serve as a warning. I will tell you a bit more about me here. And about some troubles I went through.
If you have read my blog at all it should hopefully be very obvious that I am a Christian. However, it is only recently that I have felt so strongly about being a Christian (I'm talking about in the last few months before writing this). The reason is because most of the message I had heard all my life, about Jesus Christ dying for my sins, had been watered down so much. I would hear it repeated again and again that He died for my sins, but without the background behind any of this being explained, it all seemed very unimportant (for lack of a better word) to me. Yes, I knew what everyone said was true, but it carried very little meaning.
Whenever I went to church or heard someone read from or quote the Bible, it was almost always out of the New Testament and from many of the same passages. The meaning behind these passages and even the entire New Testament was never properly explained to me. What do I mean by properly? I will get to that shortly.
I did study the Old Testament, and I also knew most of the Bible stories as well (or better than) other kids. However, it was treated as something to talk about and "learn" from on Sunday's or neat little stories to tell kids before bed. Oh boy, have my perspectives on those stories changed!
This is where my warning comes into play. Many, if not most of all Christians, are doing this. They are making these stories, these very valuable and historically true and scientifically accurate stories, seem only as children's tales. They are also making the Old Testament unpropotionately weak. And worse yet, the biggest problem I had to overcome, was the fact that othe Christians were unknowingly downplaying the Almighty's power. That is part of the reason I myself rarely use the terms "God" or "Jesus", is because they were the only terms I heard most of my life, and they have lost meaning to me. As hard as that is to admit, it is true. So instead, I choose to use other names for our Creator.
Now what I mean by downplaying the Almighty's power is the fact that it is not mentioned enough, and when it is, not emphasized enough. Yes, I know that in church miracles are spoken of all the time! Jesus rising up from the dead, turning water into wine, feeding thousands with almost nothing, and several others. The problem is, at least it was for me, is that no one put nearly enough empasis on any of these. The sermon would always lead into how He loves us and died for us, and all that. Since I already knew that and had heard it dozens of times (and had already accepted Him), it was difficult for these to have lots of meaning for me.
There were the periodic sermons that would spark an interest when someone really went into the power of the All Powerful, but it didn't happen enough. And I hardly remember at all anyone making the "children's tales" in the Bible seem as they truly were, miraculous examples of the power and might of the Lord of Heaven's Armies!
This doesn't make any sense at all! When you look at the Bible, first off you notice it starts in the Old Testament. Also, it starts by showing the Almighty's power! What happens first in the Bible? Creation. Everything from nothing, because of a supernatural act on the part of the Creator. In the Old Testament (which is far larger then the New Testament), you see example after example of the Almighty's power and justice. You also see some of His love for us and some glimpses at His mercy. His love and mercy are shown most in the New Testament, through the Messiah. However, that is after thousands of years of history and well over half of the Bible. Everything else, all these examples of His undeniable power, lead up to this.
So why all my life did people ignore everything leading up to the ultimate example of love and mercy in Christ? After all, the All Knowing didn't. Why then do we?
Well I can tell you this, it kept me a weak Christian. So please to not make the same mistake. Do not ignore the power of the Almighty! Speak of it first and foremost, and those who listen will always hear. Heed my warning, maybe others will be saved years of learning as I have.
Now, everything really hit me all at once just a few months ago. I was on vacation and was reading some books, one in particular was a commentary on the book of Job. Unlike other commentaries talking about the faith of Job and such, this commentary showed how the book of Job was "one of the most historically and scientifically accurate records of the ancient world". It focused more on the power, wisdom and knowledge of the God of Job. That was the biggest turn-a-round points for me. I devoured that book! Then I devoured the actual book of Job, rereading large portions several times. I had never read the Bible so passionately.
Within weeks of each other, event after event occured which made me more passionate about the Bible and my Christianity than ever before. I even began studying the Bible to help me better write my own books! In a period of several weeks, I felt more fear than I ever had before. And by fear, I mean fear of the Lord. I caught glimpse after glimpse of just how powerful He was. One example may be found in the first chapter of Genesis. During the creation account, it is said that "He [God] created the stars also". With that little sentence, the Almighty describes Himself creating most of the universe! Our little planet earth, which is so small it should hardly be given any thought in the Milkyway Galaxy, and that one galaxy out of so many hundreds of billions of others that it shouldn't be given any thought; this little planet was deemed so much more important than the rest of creation that the rest of the entire universe was pretty much described as "He created the stars also"!
I still have not fully grasped the signifigance of that one sentence, but the more I understand it the greater it is! The fact that He would create so much, yet choose this one little speck in the corner of the universe as the location where those who He made in His own image reside, is just astounding. This fear of Lord has put things into better perspective for me. There are times where anything beyond the moment doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what I have, how long I'll live, where I'll go when I die, or even if I'm a "good person". There are times where I am simply frozen in sheer awe at His power. Those are the best times of worship I have ever had. Where I am simply overwhelmed with the knowledge of how insignifigant I am, in terms of power. Compared to the universe and all that the Creator controls, I seem as nothing!
Now, I am still studying farther and have more and more revalations of His power since these events. I mainly study the Old Testament, to learn the history and signifigance of the New Testament. Reading of the miracles and power surrounding those such as Noah, or Abraham, Jacob, and others has been a great experience for me. And for once, I read these stories not as children's stories, but as HIStory. Some days I still struggle to actually pick up my Bible, but when I do pick it up, it is with great enthusiasm.
Overall my warning is to make sure that things to not repeat. Christianity once seemed almost boring for me. Everything in the New Testament was dull. Now that I am studying the Old Testament and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is constantly giving new life to the New Testament.
Also, my hope and prayer for eveyone who ever reads this is that they will also one day be able to experience what I am experiencing. This closeness, understanding and fear of their Creator. Not fear of retaliation or harm, but a fear composed of awe and wonder at something so much greater than ourselves! That is what Christianity is about! The most powerful being to ever exist, who created the universe and defined the laws of physics, who caused time to begin and to one day end, who can wipe out everything that exists with a mere thought; Christianity is about this All Powerful Creator wanting to know us. To know me...
Let me take you back to the beginning really quickly:
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth"
Yes, when I said "Let me take you back to the beginning" I meant it. Back to the very beginning.
I will just be going back over my thoughts I've had recently.
So for anyone who truly believes what the Bible says, the Almighty created the universe and all that is in it. That obviously includes the stars and the galaxies. Now to just step back, and consider what that means. When you step out at night and look up at the sky (provided you are somewhere that allows you to see the sky) the moon plus every single speck of light was created with merely a few words. It was created with such ease, the Almighty didn't even lift a finger. Now, these little specks of light aren't really so little. Here's a video that should better illustrate this:
Now when it went from our moon to Mercury, I was already thinking "Why even bother?" I'm not entirely sure what that meant, but I think it meant "Why even try to do anything impressive", or something like that. But, the moon to Mercury was only the first comparison in that video. I can't even remember which part of the video I just stopped trying to comprehend the size of the planets and stars compared to earth. By the time it got to Canis Majoris, I had completely stopped even trying at all. My mind almost turned off. Canis Majoris is believed to be big enough to contain over seven quadrillion earths. That is over 7,000,000,000,000,000 earths that could be fit in there! Oh, and the most important part. VY Canis Majoris is just one star.
There are believed to be at least 100 billion stars in our galaxy. This post here even estimates up to over 400 billion: http://www.universetoday.com/30305/how-many-galaxies-in-the-universe/
That same post also states that some estimates say there are over 500 billion galaxies out in the universe. And we live in just one galaxy, which we will never, ever fully explore. So basically they believe that for every star in our galaxy, there is an entire galaxy filled with hundreds of billions of stars. Now, I personally take that a step farther. I believe it is possible that there are hundreds of billions of these humongous galaxy clusters/universes! As long as the entire universe is smaller than the Almighty, it's possible. Oh wait, the Creator has no end. I guess that means the universe doesn't need one either. We will just never know how big it is.
I can't really find the words to express the thoughts going through my head about how big the universe is and how insignifigant I am, so I'll just spam the videos I've been watching.
These are just a few of the videos I've seen that have made me feel so overwhelmed. These are the ones that deal with just the stars and galaxies alone. To paraphrase what was said in the second to last link "I could sit here all day trying to find ways to describe the Almighty, but his universe already does that for Him"
So now to close this up, the reason I named this post.
"God made two great lights--the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars..." The Almighty creating virtually the rest of the universe was put in as almost nothing more than a foot note in this verse. All those hundreds of billions of galaxies out there, each filled with hundreds of billions of stars, many of which able to contain hundreds of billions of earths, was simply explained as "oh yeah, He made all that stuff too". If there is a God, and He is so powerful as to consider the rest of the universe so insigfigant as to only give it a simple mention during the creation, who are we?
"But the godless are like thorns to be thrown away, for they tear the hand that touches them. One must use iron tools to chop them down; they will be totally consumed by fire."
I was preparing to right this post when I suddenly read this passage immediately before the section I was going to talk about. It seemed to fit will as a means of explaining what I am about to talk about. So what am I talking about than? War.
Warriors specifically. To be even more specific, I will be focusing mainly on three warriors: Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah. These were David's mightiest warriors out of all his mighty warriors. These guys were the best of the best. And they weren't simply labeled that; they earned it.
Let's start with Jashobeam. He lead these three warriors, the "three mightiest warriors among David's men".
Before I begin telling you about him though, let me just say a few things. I had heard of these guys, and others before, but literally just hours before writing this I rediscovered them. I became fascinated very quickly by many of the war heroes in the Bible. I chose to write of these three for now. I could probably go on for a long time though about the warriors of old (both in biblical and nonbiblical texts).
Now, Jashobeam. How to put it... Okay, I got it! To become an Ace today in the airforce, you have to get five confirmed kills. Jashobeam would have become an Ace, 40 times, in one single battle. Using just his spear, against an army. That means in one single encounter, Jashobeam killed 800 men. 800 men! And my Bible says "He once used his spear to kill 800 enemy warriors in a single battle" (emphasis mine). This was just one single battle for him. Thas was obviously his largest, because why would anyone choose to tell of a smaller victory, but it still leaves you (or at least me) wondering how many he killed in all his years as a warrior. On the many video games I see these days with kill/death ratios, if there was someone with 800 kills and 0 deaths, he would be banned for hacking! Yet we see that same ratio happen here, and no hacking (except what Jashobeam possibly did to the bodies of his foes). And of course, as I said, you must remember that this was just one battle!
Okay, so Jashobeam was the mightiest of all David's warriors. So he was the main leader of more ordinary warriors, right? Wrong!
"Next in rank among the Three was Eleasar son of Dobai, a descendant of Ahoah. Once Ealeazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Istraelite army had fled."
So let me explain this to you. Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Philistines are the bad guys, and the entire good guy army just ran away. Except for David and Eleazar. The entire Israelite army! Except for these two guys, just left standing there. Here's what happens next:
"He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword, and the Lord gave him a great victory that day. The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the plunder!"
So, these two big armies came together to fight. The good guys run, except for their leader and one of his best warriors. The entire enemy army attacks. These two men kill all of them. The entire Israelite army that fled merely comes back to find a field strewn with corpses of the Philistines, and all they have to do is collect the plunder. And I highly doubt these "armies" were small warbands of a few dozen warriors. When we read other mentions of the Philistines, and other enemies of Israel, as well as the armies of Israel itself, we hear of numbers in the thousands. Or tens of thousands. Or even hundreds of thousands! So I really doubt that David and Eleazar fought a few dozen men. After all, Jashobeam killed 800 in one encounter! How many Philistines lay dead at the end of this day? I can only imagine...
And finally, Shammah. The third warrior in the Three.
"One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled,"
I'm starting to see a patter here. The Israelites and the Philistines come together to fight, then the Israelites run away. But...
"but Shammah held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory."
One of Israelites great leaders/warriors seem to come and save the day. Okay, reread that section above. "but Shamah held his ground. . . and beat back the Philistines" Not only did Shammah kill them, he actually drove them back! Now this is one man we are talking about here! Once again, we see the Israelite army run, but this time we see one warrior stay behind. And do the work of an entire army.
Now I challenge you to find one historical example (other than the Bible, there are several) of someone, anyone, who can beat these exploits. And remember, the Philistines are known for having large armies. Whenever I hear the word "Philistines" in the Bible associated with a number, that number is always at least a thousand. So, we've seen instances of two men killing an entire army and one man driving an entire army back. Yet another of one man killing 800 enemy soldiers with his spear in one battle. Beat that. Can you find one provable instance of anyone else in history who can do something like that? Likely not, since these were men of the Almigthy.
Oh, and just to top it off, one final exploit of the Three was thrown in. The Philistines occupied Bethlehem, and David wanted a drink from the well at the gates of Bethlehem. So when the Three heard this, what did they do? Did they just think to themselves "well, once the Philistines leave we'll make sure our first task is to get him a drink"? No. Did they decide to gather the army and attack? Nope.
They broke through the Philistine lines at Bethlehem themself to get a drink for David. Three men broke into the city occupied by the enemy army just to get some water from a well. Then what happened? David saw the water as to good for him to drink, or as he said "This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me." So he offered it to the Almighty instead.
So the score so far:
Jeshobeam: killed 800 men in one battle
Eleazar: killed an entire army with David
Shammah: drove back in entire army by himself
The Three: broke through enemy lines in an occupied town to gather water from a well which was used as an offering for the Lord of Heaven's Armies.
Once again talking about ancient technology, here are some of my old thoughts (along with a few new ones) on the steel of legend. This steel, according to these legends, was strong enough to cut through solid stone and remain sharp enough to cut falling silk. Of course, these legends could just be a major exaggeration, but if man really was as smart in the past as I believe, I wouldn't put it past them.
Here is a picture of our "modern" damascus steel:
Pretty unique look, isn't it? This is pretty much how it is believed to have looked. Of course, I believe we have lost the special techniques they would have used to make it so strong in the past. And if you think that story is a little far fetched, here's another, more recent story I heard.
I got to meet an actual knife maker. It was a hobby for him, but now he makes a pretty good profit out of it. Enough of a profit to make knives out of armor grade metal. He once even made a knife, put it in a clamp, and shot it three times with a .50 calibre bullet. The knife was a bit roughed up, but otherwise just fine.
If I lived in ancient history, and was rich enough to afford a damascus blade, I would like one of this type of design:
2100 and 2103 are my favorites of those in the picture, I think. But a damascus sword like this would be pretty amazing thing to have. Imagine it, a sword so sharp I could drop a cloth on it and the cloth would be sliced right through. Then of course, the blade would be incredibly tough and dull very slowly. I could easily cut a man in half and not even have to worry about sharpening the blade!
Yes, I do like to imagine a bit sometimes. You must remember though, it isn't really all to far of a stretch for ancient man to make weapons like this if you think about it.
Okay, so this short post was about the boy inside me. We all have to have a little fun, don't we?
I was listening to music and looking at pictures one day, when I came up with an idea for a video. I had been looking at pictures from the Hubble Telescope and listening to the song "Angel" song by Jackie Evancho. Here is a link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwSd6pd5UAQ
I was listening to that while looking at the pictures of space. It was really wonderous. So I got the idea to share that experience with everyone and make a video. Here it is:
[Edit: I had to upload the video to Vimeo because the original was taken of Youtube]
The reason I'm telling you all this? Because I am still wondering why it all happened; and at how good it turned out for how little work I put into it. I have a very strong feel the Creator wanted to show off a small aspect of his creation. So he guided my time so I would be listening to that song while looking at the Hubble pics, and then get the idea for the video. It really is quite an interesting thought, isn't it? And if you don't agree to my theory, and think it was just coincidence, then say something. I would like to have a good, respectable debate with someone. I won't change my mind, but it would still be fun.
Now, there is more reason to why I brought all of this up. Not just to say I made a video or how good I think it is, but to explain more of my thoughts behind it. This blog is called "De' Tinker's Thoughts", after all.
I find it very incredible that even with such high detailed pictures as the ones I found, there are still a poor representation at just how large and grand everything out there is. The largest picture I found was over 200 megabytes, and came out to being nearly half a billion pixels large. It may seem as though it showed a lot, but in reality, it showed an infinitely small portion of the universe. Yet, even the smallest nebulaes in the picture were likely hundreds or thousands of times the size of earth.
The purpose of this post is really just to try and comprehend how great the Creator is, as this post seems to be doing now. So you are about to read the same thoughts that go through my head. I'll just type out how amazing I think it is.
I still can't wrap my head around the size of some of the objects in these pictures! This one is my favorite:
How large is that field? I really don't know, and I don't want to cheat on Google. All I know is that it's larger than I can imagine. It looks like a painting. The vast amount of colors all flowing and blending together, the strange and exotic shapes, the bright points of light from stars, all of it! We are very fortunate that we found it, yet how many more grand paintings are we missing in a galaxy so large? I feel sorry for those who feel these are there without cause. I truly do.
Here is my favorite picture with a story in it that I see:
I see it as a battle in the heavens. On the right we have one heavenly being who is bent down on one knee, with his back turned facing the left. He is using his back and arm as a shield to protect himself from the being on the left. This being on the right, who is red, appears large and muscular, with large beard and long hair. I imagine him as an old warrior, with grey hair, who has lived a long life of war. This warrior has power that can only exist in the vastness of the heavens. He is even more powerful the the gods and goddesses of the Greeks and Romans. He is a warrior of the stars.
On the left I see another heavenly being. It has the head of a bear, the wings of a dragon, and the arms of a great warrior. This being is attacking the warrior with a force that has put the great warrior on the defence. That great, bright light in the center is the blast issuing forth from the beasts's hands, and it spreads out and around the warrior on the right, who is defending himself. The beast has other heavenly forces surrounding him, which swirl around him as different colored lights and gases. They appear as strange shapes surrounding the beast.
The warrior also has other beings fighting with him. Both behind and in front of him, I see other faces moving towards the beast and his companions. Both these faces and the other beings behind the beast are as spirits it seems. The do not take forms we are used to. Even the beast and the warrior are as spirits, for neither of them look like anything we see on earth.
Okay, I let my imagination run wild up there, but that is what I see. There is so much more as well, I just can't find a way to describe it! And this was one picture! I have run out of words for this right now, but maybe another time. So for now, I will discuss the music!
The little girl who sang the song, Jackie Evancho, is only 11. Or at least at the time both that PBS performance was shot and this post was made, she was 11. I hope she will live well beyond that. Anyway, I find it difficult to describe the music now as well! The Creator seemed to have taken one of these spirits, or beings, or something from the heavens above, and put it in this little girl when she was a baby. Just as the warrior and beast I mentioned above can't be contained on earth, it seems this voice can't either. I believe this to be so because the Creator Himself sings with her every time. This is why when people hear her, they immediately describe it as heavenly, angelic, and beautiful.
Her voice in adding to the grandeur of this video is amazing! Many of the words in the song also fit perfectly with the images. I didn't pick the song either. It is what I "happened" to be listening to at the time. Take a guess at who really picked the song? Jackie really adds the heavenly touch to these pictures. Either are great by themselves, but together they are wonderful as well! After describing the battle above, I don't have the words to describe the voice narrating it. Well, maybe another time. I might make a whole post just for this "Angel" among us, as many like to say.
One final closing thought. That video I posted above, I didn't make it. I couldn't have. Yes, I downloaded the pictures, I put them in the video, I put the music on, I rendered the video, I uploaded it to youtube, all of that. By I didn't make it. The Alighty did. He wants people to look up to Him once again and simply say, "Holy, holy, holy..." He is tired of those who can look at His creation and say, "There is no God!" He gave us these beautiful landscapes in the heavens, and he gave us what many call "an angel among us", Jackie, to bless us with her voice. Yet people deny Him. Is that why my video exists?
" and "Dream With Me
") have been certified Platinum and Gold (respectively) at the present time. Already she's making, or has already made, a third album. This newest album will be called "Heavenly Christmas" and I believe available only through Walmart. Here's a link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/17656937
