Reflection

I sit in a pool of tears

That will never be dry.

I see my reflection in them,

And what looks back at me is not me.

It is my true self,

The me behind the wall.

You can never hide the true self for too long,

It will always come out to remind you of its existence.

I try to have a solution,

For every problem I face.

But this problem has none,

And cannot be fixed.

Bittersweet, yes.

An impossible solution.

There is no way to change the past,

And no way to really control the future.

All you can do is pretend to move on.

I Anasazi woman, for reals.

I'm about to bring up an uncomfortable subject, so hold on to your seats. Religion!

This question is for anyone who claims their religion is the one and only true religion ever. How do you know? Do you realize there are hundreds, probably thousands of religions before yours that claim the exact same thing? What would you do if you were wrong?

The ancient Anasazi culture, descendants of the modern day Pueblo Indians, were very advanced for their time period. They had 4, 5, even 6 story buildings... and this is all around 1000 AD. Because their society was growing so large, they had to have leaders. Now, the Anasazi Indians were very concerned with astrology, and believed that the stars would tell the future. They had "priests" who knew how to read the stars (supposedly) and they always predicted that the Chaco Canyon crops would do well and the Anasazi culture would prosper. Now, of course, in all reality, they probably just made it up. It also helps that the area of land that Chaco Canyon (the capital of the Anasazi society) resides on is extremely fertile with wonderful weather. For hundreds of years, they had fantastic crops- more than they could handle! Also, an abundance of animals to hunt. They were living in a paradise, and the priests were being revered as not only religious leaders but political figures as well, governing the city.

Now, what happens when the mini ice age comes, and there is a 5 year drought in Chaco Canyon? There is mayhem. The Anasazi believed these priests knew what they were talking about, and now that there was no rain, the priests couldn't pretend to summon rain and have it come within a few days or weeks. They revolted against their leaders, even turning to cannibalism (that is still discussed today... but lets move on.) They eventually, because of the drought, had to move to a farther away place, and since they were all basically insane from the realization that their religion was a scam, this settlement didn't last long either, and once there was another drought, they left again. Scientists think they heard of a new cult south of Mesa Verde, where they were, and decided to join it. Then no one ever heard of the Anasazi Indians ever again- they disappeared.

Can you imagine if something like this happened in today's world? Just picture it. Lets go with Christianity. So lets pretend the Pope admits that Papacy, Bible, Church, and Christianity as a whole is a scam. There is no heaven or hell, no Jesus. No God. How would the world react when they find out what they believed their whole lives was wrong? Utter chaos. There would probably be mass suicides, genocides, anarchy, you name it. Society would crumble into dust. Some people are so set in their beliefs that they would literally go insane trying to wrap their minds around the fact that they are wrong.

Now, imagine this happening with every single religion in the world except for the one that may be "true". I'm not saying there even is one "true" religion, but just try to conceptualize the ridiculous amount of destruction there would be. Countries would fall. People would die from hunger. Genocide and suicide, like I mentioned. There would be a snowball effect, and eventually nature would get involved and there could be huge weather changes... I could go on and on. You get the idea.

This is why I don't believe there is one right religion. I find it hard to believe in religion, period. History shows that throughout time, religion has been used as a means to control a group of people... I just am not cool with that.

Every time someone tries to shove their beliefs down my throat, I just think of the Anasazi Indians, and I do a sigh of relief that I will not turn out like them.

But if there was no religion, the world would also turn to ruins like this. Religion has been one of the building blocks of every single society of peoples for millions of years. Religion gives one a hope for existing, and it helps explain the mystery of life. It gives one a sense of purpose. We must have religion to survive, but we cannot survive with religion. Quite a paradox. What are we to do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Until someone comes up with a new idea that hasn't ever been thought of in the history of man, all we can do is sit back and watch.

:)

Oh, Greg!

Gregorian chants: a religious and musical breakthrough, or a toy in the hands of the most powerful world leaders at the time?

Some history, if you don't know much about gregorian chants- they were made popularized by Pope Gregory, to help organize the chants for the liturgical year. There are 3 different kinds of gregorian chants, but the most popular are the neumatic chants. These are the ones you hear most often. They are monophonic, and include a reading from the liturgy, sung in different tones in a modal fashion, usually by a mens choir. The sound of a gregorian chant can fill a cathedral instantly, and the modal nature of it will send a chill down anyone's back. When gregorian chants were popularized, it changed the face of music not only in the Roman Catholic Church, but in the world. The Church, with the Pope at the head, was the most powerful ruler(s) in the world. With the Church in control of everything, any little ripple of change is going to be a tidal wave of change to the people of the world. Not only would it be a tidal wave because of the Church's power, but because of the power of King Charlemagne, which brings me to my question.

Pope Gregory basically told Charlemagne that he was the King of the earthly world but he will always be below the King of Heaven. He then basically said that God appointed him King. Now, you can imagine, Charlemagne was probably pretty happy to hear that he has full support from the post powerful person in the world, even more powerful than himself- the Pope. You can also imagine that he wouldn't want to mess things up with the Pope... so when the Pope creates a new kind of chant to replace the Gallican chants, Charlemagne is going to jump right on the boat. He helped spread the Pope's new kind of chant throughout the world and enforced the use of Roman Rite rather than Gallican Rite.

Did he do this just to boost himself? Its possible. Of course, any romantic would like to speculate that the gregorian chant is this brand new face to liturgical music, inspiring hope into thousands, and bringing the peace and love of Christ back onto earth. But more realistically, it was probably just a political ploy between Pope Gregory and King Charlemagne to increase their power and their political relationship. Its interesting how something like that could become a building block for music for hundreds of years to come...

Gregorian chants: a religious and musical breakthrough, or a toy in the hands of the most powerful world leaders at the time?

Any thoughts?