A well-written song will always work on my emotions. Miranda
Lambert’s song “Tin Man” is one of those. It is a great concept and a simple
structure with no real chorus except the ooohs. She speaks of being
broken-hearted and wishing she didn’t even have a heart. Then, the final verse expresses
her desire to put on armour and never have to deal with love again. A fitting song for a woman who has just experienced a very public divorce.

Tin Man
(Lyrics and music by Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, and Jon
Randall)
(Listen here while you read the lyrics.) 

Hey there Mr. Tin Man
You don’t know how lucky you are
You shouldn’t spend your whole life wishin’
For something bound to fall apart
Every time you’re feeling empty
Better thank your lucky stars
If you ever felt one breaking
You’d never want a heart 

 ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo 

Hey there Mr. Tin Man
You don’t know how lucky you are
I’ve been on the road that you’re on
It didn’t get me very far
You ain’t missing nothing
Cause love is so damn hard
Take it from me darlin’
You don’t want a heart 

ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo
ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo 

Hey there Mr. Tin Man
I’m glad we talked this out
You can take mine if you want it
It’s in pieces now
By the way there Mr. Tin Man
If you don’t mind the scars
You give me your armor
And you can have my heart 

ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo
ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooooooo, ooo

The band known as The East Pointers just released an album
called What We Leave Behind. On that
album is a song to which many will be able to relate. It is called “Two Weeks”
and deals with the emotions of leaving home to work at a job in a far-off
province for “two weeks on” and “two weeks off.”
To most of us, the idea of working for a mere two weeks and
having two weeks off from work sounds appealing. But, as the song-writers say, “Nobody
warned me, nobody told me I’d leave there so broken, come back so lonely.” The
reality of leaving a wife and family behind to find employment in another place
is a necessity for many in Canada and particularly for those who live in
economically depressed areas such as Newfoundland and the Maritimes (YYG is the
Charlottetown airport code). The song goes on to speak of the losses felt from being
away for two weeks. Marriages and relationships with children suffer in this situation,
and depression and reliance on alcohol or drugs may also contribute to the loss
of money, friends, and a future. The song is one person’s haunting account of a
life lived in fragments – two weeks at a time.
The East Pointers is an up-and-coming band from whom we can
expect to hear a lot more. The majority of their music is East-Coast Traditional
Celtic fare that appeals to those with twitchy feet, who can’t wait to get up
and dance. Their ballads are filled with a sense of mournfulness that will tug
at the heart-strings of all. Watch for one of their shows at a venue near you. 

Two Weeks
(Words and music by T. Chaisson, K. Chaisson, J. Charron, G. Sampson)
(From the album, What
We Leave Behind, http://eastpointers.ca) 

Monday morning minus 18
Another West Jet YYG to Calgary
I always knew she’d get used to me leaving someday

A lot less words now her tears have run dry
I can tell by the way she doesn’t hold me as tight
That she’s thinking maybe she’s better off alone

Nobody warned me
Nobody told me
I’d leave there so broken and come back so lonely
I’m killing my soul for the life that I’m leaving behind
Two weeks on
Two weeks off
My blood is wearing thin and my stomach’s in knots
Too much thinking about the time you’ve lost
When it’s two weeks on and two weeks off

I punch in hide the whiskey on my breathe
By the time the night comes I take whatever I can get
Blowing black gold money I shoulda sent home

Two more days and I’m east coast bound
I’ll be praying she’s there when the wheels touch down
Maybe there’s a job home that’ll keep me this time

Nobody warned me
Nobody told me
I’d leave there so broken and come back so lonely
I’m killing my soul for the life that I’m leaving behind
Two weeks on
Two weeks off
My blood is wearing thin and my stomach’s in knots
Too much thinking about the time you’ve lost

When it’s two weeks on and two weeks off 

Nobody warned me
Nobody told me
I’d leave there so broken and come back so lonely
I’m killing my soul for the life that I’m leaving behind
Two weeks on
Two weeks off
My blood is wearing thin and my stomach’s in knots
Too much thinking about the time you’ve lost

When it’s two weeks on and two weeks off 

Monday morning minus eighteen, another West Jet YYG to Calgary

(I am sending out a special thanks to CBC Music and to my daughter, Twila, for introducing me to this amazing band.)

  



I have spent a good deal of time and ink in a review of 2017
and perhaps it is nearly time to turn our gaze toward 2018. Part 4 of this
review will hit a few more of the biggest highlights of the latter half of
2017.

In July of 2017 I managed to publish a book. I found it to be a significant development in my life as a writer. I may have
written nine years of blog posts but writing a novel was a new undertaking that
took a whole other level of discipline. I hope to publish another book in 2018.
On August 21 of 2017, the world was mesmerized by “The Great
American Eclipse.” Solar eclipses are rare enough and total eclipses visible in
North America stir the hearts and minds of people. I was intrigued by Annie Dillard’s 1979 article “Total Eclipse,” which she used as a metaphor for the
mysteries and splendours of our universe and our propensity to live in the
mundane events of the world. Much of our lives are spent in the pursuit of three square meals a day and a
roof over our head. We spend very little time thinking about the bigger
questions of life, eternity, and God. Dillard says, “From the depths of
mystery, and even from the heights of splendor, we bounce back and hurry for
the latitudes of home.”
In September, I learned about the quirky letter Rich Mullins had sent to Steve Taylor in 1986. I saw it as one of those great moments in music history where two great artists
connected. Steve Taylor still has the original letter.
In November, I was struck by the fact that we live in an unprecedented
time in which our scientific advancements proceed at an incredible speed.
Advances in genetics, autonomous cars, and Artificial Intelligence are proceeding faster than regulations, laws, and moral boundaries can be set
in place. There is plenty of food for thought in each of these advancements and
readers can expect further contemplation on these developments in 2018 posts.
But it also reminds me that we live in a time when it is important to continue
to remain humble in what we know to be certain. As Rex Murphy reminded us, “…
our finest sages, present and past, have always counselled against certitude,
and cautioned that when we are most certain of something is precisely the time
we should go over our sums.”[1] 
One of the reasons I started this blog nine years ago was to
give myself some space to ask important questions, to challenge myself to think
logically, and to perhaps encourage others to consider other points of view.
Thank you for reading along with me. I hope we can continue to explore this
world in which we live in the years to come.


[1] National Post, 2017-11-02, “Governor General places
herself as umpire of questions of faith and science, http://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-governor-general-places-herself-as-umpire-of-questions-of-faith-science
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote that “If God does not exist,
everything is permitted” (The Brothers Karamazov). Others have taken up
this thought and asked the question, “Can we be good without God?” and John
Stackhouse asks the question this way,
Are there adequate grounds to
make categorical moral judgments if one jettisons belief in a divinity at least
something like the God of Abraham—a God who is all-good, all-wise, and
all-powerful, and who has communicated a sense of goodness to humanity and
expects us to discern and follow it?[1]
Fyodor Dostoevsky was a Christian who wrote from a
perspective that suggested that God exists and that we need God if we are ever
to make judgements about good and evil. On the other hand, Friedrich Nietzsche,
in his book, Beyond Good and Evil, came at things from an atheistic, or at
least agnostic, position and concluded that we live in a world where there are
no moral absolutes. He would suggest that the voices we hear today are merely
the views of individuals or groups. Each may be strongly convinced of the
obvious and intrinsic rightness of their view but we have no measure by which
to choose the views of the white-supremacist society over the Christian church
group or humanist think-tank.
Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, two brilliant thinkers of the nineteenth century, make
it clear that such determinations indeed come down to a matter of faith. We
either start from a perspective of faith in the idea that God does not exist, without
being able to prove it; or we start from a perspective that God does exist, without
being able to prove it. Once we have chosen one of these two paths, things
become clearer, but not completely clear. Stackhouse points out that we still
must use the mind we have been given (or for the atheist, the mind that has
assembled out of the primordial stardust) to make decisions about how we will
live.
Stackhouse concludes that,
… we may find that we lack good
(enough) reason for holding to this or that opinion, and we might therefore be
open to changing it. We may find instead that we have very strong grounds to
keep believing what we believe, and so we will. In both cases, we are better
off taking the time to think things through, rather than just blithely (or
bellicosely) assuming we’re right.[2]
Paul, the Apostle, concludes that,
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then
we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is
partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God
now knows me completely.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT).


[1] Can we be coherently good without God? John
Stackhouse blog, 2017-12-19, http://www.contextwithlornadueck.com/2017/12/16/im-sorry-patton-oswalt-but-we-have-to-pick/
[2] Can we be coherently good without God? John
Stackhouse blog, 2017-12-19, http://www.contextwithlornadueck.com/2017/12/16/im-sorry-patton-oswalt-but-we-have-to-pick/
Not
everyone enjoys year-end reviews but there is certainly some value in looking
back on our own year. I am hopeful that this guide through a year of blogs may
remind you of the significant events in your year.
It took
watching the movie twice, but Arrival eventually became one of my favourite movies of 2017. The movie is much ado
about the idea of rewiring our brains by learning the language of an alien
culture. It clearly overstates its case but is brilliantly scripted and leaves
one with a sense of hope regarding science, linguistics, and human
understanding, even as it offers a sharp warning of how we use our own words
and the militarization of culture. 
My April 17
blog-post was an ode to every band in which I have ever participated and
particularly a tribute to the songs I have written or co-written over the
years. The song, “No Hit Wonder,” is an exaggerated (I don’t really have quite
such lofty goals) autobiographical sketch of one man’s desire for fame. At some
level, you may be able to relate as well. 
I paid
closer attention to what my friends were writing in 2017. Several of my friends
published books in this year. I read their works, blogged about them, and
enjoyed learning how the books had come to be. The publishing industry has
changed significantly in the last few years but what stays the same is the
significant amount of effort one must put in if one wishes to write a readable
book. My friend, Cam Taylor, published his book, Detour, in 2017. Two of my posts were dedicated to
quoting and understanding this book. 
The “problem
of pain,” is a perennial problem in Christian theology and a perennial topic in
my blog posts. In the month of May, I tackled it again. This time, I added in
concepts I had been learning from an evolutionary creation perspective. I am
now thoroughly convinced that this is a fruitful way to analyse the problem and
all of my future thoughts on the subject will be seen through the lens of how
the “pain” and suffering of the evolutionary process leads to beings who will
one day be more fit for relationship with God.
That’s a
lot of thinking, dreaming, writing, and creating in just five months of the
year. The next review blog will likely take me through the month of July in
which I published my first novel. I pray that you too might be analysing your
own life as we move forward.


Perhaps the
best book I had opportunity to read in 2017 was the book by Dennis Venema and
Scott McKnight, Adam and the Genome. The authors explain the implications of recent genetic research and
evolutionary theory and then seek to read the Bible in light of these
implications. Everyone comes to the Bible with a particular perspective; they
are making theirs explicit and helping us to understand that there is no
conflict between science and faith. It is not overly technical but will be a
stretch for those who start from a viewpoint that there is a conflict between
the two. If that is the case, I encourage you to expand your horizons and read
this book.
I love a
good musical, and so my favourite movie that I saw in 2017 was La La Land. Yes, I know some of the acting is wooden and even some of the dance scenes are
stiff, but I allowed myself to get immersed in the movie and loved it just the
same.
We seem to
be on a roll about some of my much-loved media from 2017, so let’s continue with
a song that was released in 2008 but was on repeat in my car for a bunch of
2017. “Broken From the Start” by Jonathan Foreman is a song of the Fall. It reminds us that love and heartbreak
are common to the human condition and that our hearts start from a place of
brokenness.
In 2017,
many scientists worked persistently to find Dark Matter. The debate about whether or not the material exists continues and speaks of the
intelligence and mystery of our Creator. We continue to wait upon intelligent
minds who might solve this enigmatic question.
Another significant
event in my year was the trip I took to Houston, TX for the BioLogos conference
entitled “Christ and Creation.” Much like seeing a “kid in a candy-store,” I am
sure I was wide-eyed and joyful for much of the three-day conference. My blogpost from April 2 recounts some of the highlights.

On May 9th, I attempted to express my growing understanding of the problem of pain, a good
God, and evolutionary creation. One can readily see the slow progress my mind has made on such topics and the hope
that my words will inspire others to keep pressing on for more and more
answers. Stay curious my friends.



Recognising
that it may take me a few posts to accomplish this, I have begun to look back
over the year 2017. A year of blog posts helps me to capture the things that
have been on my mind throughout the year.
Life and
death and what happens when this life is over are never far from the minds of
most people. We may not think about it for long periods of time and then a
song or an incident may bring it to mind. “Where to Now St. Peter,” (http://hungerandthirst4.blogspot.ca/2017/01/where-to-now-st-peter.html)
is one song that has this power and causes us to say, “Tell me which road I’m
on.” This is certainly a theme that readers will find recurring in this
particular year of blog posts.
Song-writers
have a great deal of power over me. A well-crafted song triggers a visceral
response and an assessment of the meaning and philosophy of the song. “Big
Picture,” by the Eagles song-writers, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, has
such an effect. Read about it here: https://www.keithshields.ca/2017/01/big-picture.html
Blue Rodeo’s
recent tour and Jim Cuddy in his early sixties sparked another series of thoughts
about life, aging musicians, and the life of a band. In a world of icons,
stars, and role models, there are many who fail to inspire us as people. Jim
Cuddy is a true Canadian treasure who has done better than most as he raised a
family and toured the world. May we all grow old gracefully as Cuddy has done. https://www.keithshields.ca/2017/01/blue-rodeo.html
On January
31, 2017, I found myself reflecting upon our perceptions of the world. Most of
us would agree that we see and interpret the world imperfectly, and that it
takes constant effort to understand the times in which we live. We tend to
disagree on how we can see clearly and make plans for building a better world.
My biases come through pretty clearly in the blog post from that day: https://www.keithshields.ca/2017/01/seeing-imperfectly.html.

In the days
to come, this blog will shed further light on 2017 and the thoughts of one man.
I encourage all of us to think about the previous year and reflect on what we
have learned and what is yet to be learned. May you be encouraged by this
process.



“Hazel Grey” is a duo consisting of Pete and Josanna
Justine. They have written more than 50 songs together and recorded five albums
of songs. “Was There Music in the Air?” is from their 2010 album by the same
name as the band, Hazel Grey. It
captures the first moments of God’s creation before there were humans who could
tell us what could be seen or heard.
Was There Music in the Air?
(Hazel Grey Music; Peter and Josanna Justine; CCLI)
(www.hazelgreymusic.com)
(Listen to the song here)
The Spirit hovered over the waters.
The Spirit hovered over the waters.
Could they capture your reflection?
Stay calm within your presence, Lord
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
And were there colours in the heavens
That danced with their Creator
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
I am overcome, Oh Lord
By the splendor of a holy king.
And I am overwhelmed, Oh Lord
In the depth of your love for me
The depth of your love
Swallows the ocean’s majesty
The heavens above, echo the symphony of glory
The Spirit hovered over the waters.
The Spirit hovered over the waters.
Was the radiance of morning
Consumed within your glory, Lord?
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
And did you whisper to creation
Or did you shout in celebration
And did the mountains sound like thunder
When you formed them in your power, Lord
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
I am overcome, Oh Lord
By the splendor of a holy king.
And I am overwhelmed, Oh Lord
In the depth of your love for me
The depth of your love
Swallows the ocean’s majesty
The heavens above, echo the symphony of glory
The Spirit hovered over the waters.
The Spirit hovered over the waters.
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
Was there music in the air?
The Spirit hovered over the waters
“Where were you when … the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4, 7).
“For the Lord your God is living among you.
    He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
    With his love, he will calm all your fears.
    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah
3:17).


(Yesterday’s post was part 1 of my attempt to make sense of what has been happening with Jim Carrey. Today I will conclude the story.)

Jim
Carrey goes even further when he espouses the idea that others do not exist. “I don’t believe that you exist,” he told an E! News correspondent
at New York Fashion Week. “There is no me. … There are clusters of
tetrahedrons moving around together. … We don’t matter.”[1]
One might think that Carrey’s reference to tetrahedrons
is a reference to Plato or Pythagoras, but if it is, it is likely an unconscious
reference; and, even if it is a conscious harkening to philosophers of another
era, Plato’s Theory of Everything has been found wanting by a great many better
philosophical minds. Plato’s theory has little to offer our contemporary
understanding of the universe. It is a bit like what Douglas Adams says
in The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe
and everything is 42.”
I would suggest that Jim Carrey has largely
given in to the influences of other thoughts, other people, and perhaps even
other spirits. Take, for example, a particular monologue from the documentary
made about Carrey’s personal crisis. It is entitled, Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond. The documentary is a marvelous
medium for Jim Carrey’s bizarre pseudo-philosophy. In the documentary, speaking
of the movie, Man on the Moon, in
which Carrey portrayed the performance artist and sometimes funny comic, Andy
Kaufman, Carrey says, “Andy Kaufman showed up, tapped me on the shoulder
and said, ‘Sit down, I’ll be doing my movie,’ What happened afterwards was out
of my control.”[2]
Therein lies part of the problem. Many actors,
when preparing for a new role, would take the lessons they learned in acting
school and begin to craft the mannerisms, vocal inflections, and impulses of
the person they will play. Carrey seems to have a different method: he becomes
the person and allows the spirit of that person to take over his own
personality such that a portion of Jim Carrey is lost with each role. On top of
this, it seems there is no going back for Carrey. Forever after, a portion of Andy Kaufman’s or Truman’s or Ace Ventura’s persona is grafted into the Jim
Carrey persona.
It has been reported that Carrey is preparing,
or has prepared, for a role as a hermitting, organic drug experimenter named
Terence McKenna. One wonders what this kind of role may do to Jim Carrey. Will
this be the point of no return for the actor we have loved? Speaking of this
role, he has reportedly said,
“The deeper you go into the
psychedelic dimension the bigger it gets. I’ve seen things which no human being
has ever seen before, and no other human being will ever see again. I retreated to nature and I took five grams of dried mushrooms
in order to prepare for this role. The real message of psychedelics, I think,
is to reclaim experience and to trust yourself. Your perceptions are primary.
Your feelings are correct.
Everything must constellate out and make sense and parse with what you know. If
you don’t start from that assumption then you are off center to begin with. And
the psychedelics will dissolve the cultural programming that has potentially
made you a mark and restore your authenticity.” [3]
Some of Jim Carrey’s journey is not unique to
him, yet, it is worth noting a few pertinent details. Jim Carrey is not an
educated man. He never took acting lessons and he began his career before he
had an opportunity to complete high school. He has learned what he has learned
through his experiences in life. He became desperate to survive, thrive, and
succeed while he was still a teenager. He has had experiences that no one else
has ever experienced and likely, no one else will. I do not say this to mock
the man but rather to remind us all that he is not the sort of person we would
typically turn to for philosophical advice. His journey has not been that of a
guru or an academic. Thus, we heed his words at our own peril and trust his
advice at our own risk.
I do hope and pray that Jim Carrey might find
a supportive group of people who would direct him toward a more balanced and
sustainable life. I pray that he might find joy in living his life for a cause
greater than himself and that he might have true friends who show him the way.


[1] http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/jim-carreys-message-in-netflix-jim-and-andy-we-are-all-truman-now-20171129-gzvk4v#ixzz50Ck74QXx “Jim Carrey’s message
in Netflix ‘Jim and Andy’: we are all Truman now,” by Dan Zak, Financial Review, December 1, 2017.

[2] Ibid.
[3] I hesitate to legitimize the website
upon which this quote is found but recognize that these may in fact be the
words of Jim Carrey: http://livetheorganicdream.com/jim-carrey-preparing-psychedelic-role-staying-nature-taking-mushrooms/


Jim Carrey,
by most accounts, is one of Canada’s most well-loved actors, and one of our best
exports to the United States. He has certainly generated a good deal of laughter
with his insanely comedic movie roles. Who could ever forget his portrayal of
Bruce in Bruce Almighty. We applauded
his stunningly stupid performances in movies such as Ace Ventura and Dumb and
Dumber, and we marvelled at the relevant story he helped to tell in the
1998 movie, The Truman Show. There
are a great many things that we can learn from Jim Carrey. For me, the best
learning comes as I allow both the noble and the strange elements of his life
to point me back to my own life as a follower of Jesus. But, for now, let’s
talk about Jim.
Born in New
Market, Ontario, Carrey lived for eight years in Burlington, Ontario. A
formational element of his early life is the fact that his family struggled to
pay the rent, buy the groceries, and pay the bills for other necessities of
life. At an early age, Jim Carrey felt an obligation to help the family
succeed. He set outlandish goals for himself as he worked to become a
world-class performer. Perhaps surprisingly, many of those goals were achieved;
and his “wisdom” regarding how one goes about achieving dreams has a larger-than-life
following (just do a search for inspirational quotes by Jim Carrey to prove
this point).
Carrey
readily admits that The Truman Show
was a significant turning point in his career and philosophy of life. Recently,
Carrey has said,
“Truman Show really
became a prophecy for me. It is constantly reaffirming itself as a teaching,
almost, as a real representation of what I’ve gone through in my career
– and what everybody goes through when they create themselves, you know,
to be popular or to be successful.”[1]
Of course,
Carrey makes an important point, and it is the point the writers and directors
wished to make: all the world is a stage (thank you William Shakespeare) and we
are all constantly acting. That was true in 1998 and it is even more true in
2017 when we are aware that Google, Siri, or Alexis may be listening to our
every word. We see it in international intrigue as politicians and their
assistants assure us that no one is spying or passing information, when all
along we are pretty sure they have been. In some sense, Jim Carrey is simply
speaking the obvious, and perhaps coming unglued as he realizes the big joke the
rest of us got while we watched his performances.
In fact, some
suggest that Jim Carrey’s persona has begun to unravel as he becomes more and
more caught-up in an introspective consideration of his own rags to riches
life. On Jimmy Kimmel, Live! Carrey recently said, “Jim Carrey was a great character, and I was
lucky to get the part, but I don’t think of that as me anymore.”[2] He claims to have walked
through a door to another reality. Referring to elements of the Truman movie,
Carrey says, “The
door is the realisation that this – us – is Seaside. It’s the dome. This is the
dome. This isn’t real. You know? This is a story.”[3]
(This is not an attempt to write a cliff-hanger but, this blog post will be continued in tomorrow’s post, at which point I will seek to leave us with a better conclusion.)

[1] http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/jim-carreys-message-in-netflix-jim-and-andy-we-are-all-truman-now-20171129-gzvk4v#ixzz50Ck74QXx “Jim Carrey’s message in Netflix ‘Jim and Andy’: we are all Truman now,” by Dan Zak, Financial Review, December 1, 2017.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.