Don't burn the day - I

Over at dustandashes Laura T pointed out this quote.

“The invention of an afterlife would not matter so much were it not purchased at such a high price: disregard of the real, hence wilful neglect of the only world there is... Religion tells us to give up this life for another... They are telling us to give up our desire, passions, pleasures- that by doing so, our existence in this world will make more sense, because the real sense of our life here below is the existence we will have once we are dead. What type of comfort in that? ‘Die while you are alive so you can be alive when you are dead?’… But I know there will always be people who will fight for reason, intelligence, happiness, pleasure, relationships, women, music, painting, literature, good wine, gastronomy. They will think reason is better than fiction.”
-Self pronounced Atheist, Michael Onfray [May 12th ‘Good Weekend’]


It reminded me of this song by Dave Matthews.

Pig.

Oh, isn't it strange
How we move our lives for another day?
Like skipping a beat
What if a great wave should wash us all away?
Just thinking out loud
Don't mean to dwell on this dying thing
But look at my blood
It's alive right now,
And deep and sweet within
Pouring through our veins
Intoxicate moving wine to tears
And drinking it deep
Then an evening spent dancing
It's you and me...

This love will open our world
From the dark side we can see a glow of something bright
Oh, there's much more than we see here
Don't burn the day away

Is this not enough?
This blessed sip of life,
Is it not enough?
Staring down at the ground
Oh, then complain and pray for more from above,
You greedy little pig
Stop, just watch your world trickle away
Oh, it's your problem now
It'll all be dead and gone in a few short years

Just love will open our eyes
Just love will put the hope back in our minds
Much more than we could ever know
Oh, so don't burn the day away
Don't burn the day away

Come sister, my brother
Shake up your bones, shake up your feet
I'm saying open up
And let the rain come pouring in
Wash out this tired notion
That the best is yet to come
But while you're dancing on the ground
Don't think of when you're gone

Love, love, love, what more is there?
'Cause we need the light of love in here
Don't beat your head
Dry your eyes
Let the love in there
There's bad times
But that's okay
Just look for love in it

And don't burn the day away...

Look, here are we
On this starry night, staring into space
And I must say
I feel as small as dust lying down here

What point could there be troubling?
Head down wondering what will become of me?
Why concern "WHAT" we cannot see
But no reason to abandon it
The time is short but that's all right
Maybe I'll go in the middle of the night
Take your hands from your eyes, my love
All good things must come to an end some time
But don't burn the day away
Don't burn the day away...

Come sister, my brother
Shake up your bones, shake up your feet
I'm saying open up
And let the rain come flooding in
Wash out this tired notion
That the best is yet to come
But while you're dancing on the ground
Don't think of when you're gone

Love, love, love, what more is there?
'Cause we need the light of love in here
Don't beat your head
Dry your eyes
Let the love in there
There're bad times
But that's okay
Just look for love in it.


Both pieces accuse 'religion' of being irreverant towards what is now, the world around us, both its needs, failures, glories and successes. It is the 'religious' exposition of what the future entails that is thought to undermine our identification with what is now. But is biblical Christianity subject to this charge. Certainly Christians throughout the ages have failed to appropriately revere all that God has made, and have committed great evils against other humans and the environment, but what about Jesus and the bible?
I recommend you check out a few posts (series on heaven) over at nothing new under the sun. Byron is passionate about the fact that Christianity rightfully understood reverances and upholds all the goodness of creation and that new creation is in continuity with what is now.