I think invariably those of us who spend a lot of time getting acquainted with popular culture get used to the lingo, the methods, and the mechanics of mass media. Words are cheap. Pictures may be worth thousands of words but what does it me to us? We look for something that makes us feel, that stirs our passion.
The same can be said of worship (to toss the Christian-ese in). Reading about KOTOKO’s show down at Texas made me wanted to be there pretty badly. Well, that’s half of the reasons why, but the nihilistic cowgirl (for that is her costume at the show, to match her Mountie gig in Toronto) can probably go a long way to justify for me to buy whatever merchandise that may come of her two North American stints this year. I say this because I am passionate about her as a fan. And very specifically, as a fan of her shows and her live personality. It brings me a big grin, makes me jump and wave until I am very sore, and put up with long lines riddled with irritating fanboys and fangirls.
It also doesn’t help that I’m somewhat of the schoolchild of Christian Hedonism. After growing up with it (spiritually) for so many years now I realized the only true hole its teaching misses out on–it makes some presumptions that doesn’t apply to everybody. In such a way that I think a man or woman can be so twisted that he or she lives in derail with his or her emotions, it can be difficult to understand, as a stoic, the point to live passionately. Stoic love may still be love, after all. Imperfection riddles everyone’s soul, spirit and body, yet God honors all who seeks him by faith. That’s not even to mention the very possibility that some of us are born stoics. It may be why some have a hard time with living for what you are passionate about when that passion coincides with godly living; or when you live godly lives that are passionless.
Ultimately, however, worship is the act of praise and adoration. It is a response of love. It is what drives the Nielsen rating. It’s what drives people to talk about that movie at the water cooler. It’s why I go to church. It is possibly why God created the universe. In some ways that is also why people are driven to procreation. Being around a lot of toddlers and and even younger kids lately it makes me apperciate just how much more their parents love and apperciate those little people.
Yet worship is just the quiet, under-hyped half of its twin: goodness. We worship only what is, in our opinion, worthy of worship. I would like to just say that only good stuff is worthy of your attention. For many it means that they only watch “good anime.” Fair enough. For some it means we watch Aria because it is good; also fair enough. But for Aria viewers many more watches it because we know slice of life is good! Some coffee is good to the last drop and we praise them so. Even more drink coffee because it’s good to have some of that stuff in the morning.
Passionate, lively living adores goodness, expresses emotively, and it drives those who live that way to seek greater goodness. We love what we do because we’re doing what we love. It’s a blessed catch-22. It is a shadow of the heavenly realm. It is the story of Aria. Is it the story of you and me? Or him?
