Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Jesus and Gravity

I am coming out of the closet...I am a reality TV show fan. There are only a few shows that I watch, but I am madly in love with them. I know that things are dramatized on these shows, but I feel like they are more like real life sometimes than the average person's real life. If you think about it, we all have drama in our lives. About 4 years ago I was in the neurological ICU and told that I had three aneurysms...one of which had already burst. I was in disbelief. The next thing I knew there was the hospital chaplain in my room. I looked at Alex and said something to the effect of "oh, *%^# (how do you do the cuss word sign?). call church." Ok, so that last sentence was dramatization, but that is really what I thought. After our friends ran (literally ran...no dramatization...we have the best friends ever) to my hospital bed, we were told, "ummm either we were wrong or you are miraculously healed." We never did find out what happened. I can tell you this much though, I felt like I was dieing and Alex thought for sure I looked like I was dieing. But let me give you an example of the beauty of the reality show that I saw tonight.

One of "my shows" is American Idol. There is always at least one contestant that I fall in love with and this year my main squeeze is Brooke White. She is a Christian. I would have known she was one whether she said it or not, but I think she has said it at some point. That is not the only reason I love her...she seems like she would be the most awesome sweetest friend, and I love her voice and her performances. This week the contestants sang Dolly Parton songs and tonight was the results show. Dolly Parton sang a song before the final results called "Jesus and Gravity" (I think). The premise was basically that she has all she needs because when she takes her blessings for granted gravity brings her back down. But at the same time Jesus is always there to lift her up and show her she is loved and that all good gifts are from Him. At least that is what I got out of it. As I was marvelling over the fact that this blatantly Christian song was being sung on American Idol, I found out that my girl Brooke was in the bottom 3. Gasp. This has never happened. Break to a commercial. I never actually call and vote...I was kicking myself for not voting. This was a tragedy. The show comes back and the bottom 3 girls are standing there in tears awaiting their fate. Ryan Seacrest looks at Brooke and says, "Brooke, you have never been in the bottom 3 before and you are obviously very emotional about it." Brooke replies, "I am emotional for many reasons. We throw everything into this competition. And then I see the segment on "Idol gives Back" (a charity thing Idol does now) about starving kids in Africa and I think there are so many things in life bigger than this. And then Dolly Parton gets on the stage and sings about Jesus and I remember He is all I ever need." You'll be happy to know Brooke was not eliminated.

I guess my point is this...reality TV is real life because Jesus is there just as much as He is everywhere else. And we are all fooling ourselves if we think that life is just la de da for the average person anyway. For the Christian, we are at war with Satan. He is attacking our children, our marriages, our friends, our family...but more importantly he is trying to keep people from hearing about Jesus. The reality is that life is dramatic...and people need Jesus. Even Simon Cowell and reality show addicts such as myself :).

P.S. BTW, I encourage everyone to read the words to that Dolly Parton song. I would have written a post about it even if I hadn't heard it on American Idol. It is brilliant...I love the idea that the gravity of this world is needed to remind us we are sinners, but even more Jesus is needed to love us anyway when gravity shows us the reality of who we are. It makes me proud to say that I have been to DollyWood. ;)

5 comments:

Ella said...

great post, amanda!! thanks for that much needed reminder!! we love you and are praying for your fam!

Erica said...

good to see your posting back amanda! i check your blog often and was hoping you'd post something soon! i love american idol too, and didn't realize brooke was a believer--pretty cool! and loved your autism awareness day post. oh the saga of the vaccines, i know! there is so much information out there it is overloading! thinking of you often and keeping you and your fam in prayer!

Our family said...

Hey Amanda!
I check your blog a lot to see if you have updated and I was excited to read two posts today! I think about y'all and pray for you often. I prayed today for your specific requests in the post before this one. Are you still happy with Daniel's school? I hope that it is going well.
love,
rebekah

Holly said...

That song was written by a girl our age from JACKSON, MS named Betsy Ulmer! It's one of only a "handful" of songs Dolly Parton has ever sung that she did NOT write herself! Cool, Huh? Here are the words:
“I'm to the point where it don't add up.
I can't say I've come this far with my guitar on pure dumb luck.
That's not to say I know it all 'cause every time
I get too high up on my horse I fall.

'Cause I've got somethin' lifting me up,
somethin' holdin' me down.
Somethin' to give me wings and keep my feet on the ground.
I've got all I need, Jesus and gravity.

But I'm as bad as anyone
takin' all these blessin's in my life for granted one by one.
When I start to thinkin' it's all me, well,
somethin' comes along and knocks me right back on my knees.

And I've got somethin' lifting me up,
somethin' holding me down.
Somethin' to give me wings and keep my feet on the ground.
I've got all I need, Jesus and gravity.

He's my friend, He's my light.
He's my wings, He is my flight.

And I've got somethin' lifting me up,
somethin' holding me down.
Somethin' to give me wings and keep my feet on the ground.
I've got all I'm gonna need.
I've got Jesus, I've got Jesus.

I've got somethin' lifting me up,
somethin' holdin' me down.
Somethin' to give me wings and keep my feet on the ground.
I've got all I'll ever need,
'cause I've got Jesus and gravity.

Oh, I've got somethin' lifting me up,
somethin' holding me down.
Somethin' to give me wings and keep my feet on the ground.
I've got all I'll need, 'cause I've got Jesus and gravity.

Jesus, I've got Jesus, I've got Jesus.
He's my everything. He lifts me up, He gives me wings.
He gives me hope and He gives me strength,
and that's all I'll ever need as long as he keeps lifting me.

He is my life, He's my guide.
He is my wings, He is my flight.
Lift me, I got Jesus,
I've got Jesus and that's all I need. “

Missy said...

I'm just sittin around...waiting for Amanda to call me....

;) KIDDING! No one understands more than me how life gets in the way. But I would love to hear your sweet voice!