Artist's Showcase - Samuel Godfrey George

Today's going to be another installment of "The Artist's Showcase" and, today, I've included a fairly familiar face here at "The Mad Hermit".

In the past, I've posted some of his other works on the blog, including one of his other poems (which is actually the sequel to this one), which I've used as a complimentary piece in my reading of C.S. Lewis', "The Great Divorce."

Samuel Godfrey George is not only a very skilled speaker, but he is also a very natural poet and for those of you who wish to explore more of his work, feel free to visit his youtube channel at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/samuelgodfreygeorge

The poem below, which is both written and recited by Samuel, is on the subject of lust, but it also covers a wide range of other topics, including Christianity, love, mortality, man's relationship with one another and with himself.

I found it to be a very profound and spiritual poem and it's also wonderfully written in a very meditative, very stream of consciousness manner. The artwork that Samuel includes greatly enhances the feel of the poem's subject and, if you're curious about the art that he uses, he even gives reference to all of them at the end of the video.

So sit back, enjoy, and feel free to comment!

A Reading of I Corinthians 13

"1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

- I Corinthians 13 (NKJV)



(To reach this reader's blog (Samuel Godfrey George), please refer to "Relish the Cognitive Process" at http://samuelgodfreygeorge.blogspot.com/, which is also included in the link list.)

Not Okay To Be Normal?

It has become almost instinctual for everyone (depending on the context) to recoil from the idea of being "normal". Nowadays, it's no longer considered okay to be "normal". We must be different. We must "go against the flow"--we must all be different, as though being different or individually unique is an act that requires conscious effort as opposed to something that's simply innate or natural. But, the truth is, is this the thing that people should be worried about more than anything else? Should this be the primary objective in our life? The answer seems obvious, yet there are still many people out there who have made "being different just for the sake of it" the center of their universe (sometimes even at the expense of others).

There is nothing wrong being normal. There is nothing wrong with being average. And there is nothing wrong with being just a face in the crowd.

We, as human beings, seek out significance, as though it was something that must be "earned" as opposed to something that is inherent in being human. The fact is, though one can gain "significance" in certain contexts--such as being a significant contributor to a project or a company--significance in terms of inherent value comes with the territory of being created in God's image.

Every human being, "different" or "ordinary", exceptional or average is unique within the grand scheme of things as man is the only creature in existence created in the image of the Creator. Not even the angels themselves were given that gift--that high honor. Until human beings begin to see that more and more and recognize the Creator and our place with Him--then the search for significance in the wrong places will always remain an issue for man.

Proving God

I stumbled on this video several months ago about proving God's existence. I must admit, this is one of the best arguments I've ever heard so far. I really respect this guy. Though he's bashed a lot by other YouTuber's (namely atheist ones), he's got my positive vote.