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Letter From God
Tuesday 22nd Apr, 2008 in: Secondary by Kieran Murphy
As I was trawling the internet the other day as every good youth worker does (or maybe just me!), I found this youtube video from Dan Le and Scroobius Pip.
I found it very interesting and made me think is this how young people view God? Do they think that he is some distant creator that has left the world to it’s own devices and to just get things wrong? Do they think that God created us? I showed it to some other youth workers this weekend and it created quite good discussion.
As yet I have not worked out exactly how to use and so would be interested in peoples thoughts!
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I love their stuff (apart from some of the language making an amazing song unusable in schools!). I’m not sure how I would use it with teens, I’d maybe put it as: ‘this is someone’s ideas of what God would say- what would you think God wanted to say?’ and then link it into ‘what does God say to us?’. I might use it to say actually i believe he speaks to me everyday etc etc. Thalt shall always kill is also a good track (apart from the language!) but links back to the whole new 10 commandments topic!
I have that video on my desktop and have been listening to it for a while thinking exactly the same as you!
i think you could use one of the verses for discussion on suffering:
“It was You that invented bombs, and the fear that comes with them
And it was You that invented money, and the corrupt economic systems
You invented terms like just-war and terms like friendly fire”
And the first part could be used for describing our rebellion from god, and the concept of sin:
“Hey There, how, how’s it going?
Long time no see.
I know I haven’t been around much lately
But…it didn’t seem like you wanted me to be
The last time I sent down a message you nailed it to the cross
So I figured I’d just leave you to it, let you be your own boss
But I’ve been keeping an eye on you, I have, and it’s amazing how you’ve grown.
With your technological advances and the problems you’ve overthrown,
And all the beautiful art you’ve created with such grace and such finesse,
But I admit there are a few things I’m afraid have impressed me less.”
But i’m yet to find a good opportunity to use it in school, because i’m quite loathed to shoe-horn it in when it conveys some beliefs that are quite distant from those of Christianity.
If you manage to use it successfully please let me know… And I’ll do likewise!
Just to follow on from Adam’s post - the lyrics to the songs are below. Just as a warning though my friend used this video in a youth group and got in lots of trouble the following day from the elders of his church - so be a bit careful in how you present this. Great resource though!
Hey There, how, how’s it going?
Long time no see.
I know I haven’t been around much lately
But…it didn’t seem like you wanted me to be
The last time I sent down a message you nailed it to the cross
So I figured I’d just leave you to it, let you be your own boss
But I’ve been keeping an eye on you, I have, and it’s amazing how you’ve grown.
With your technological advances and the problems you’ve overthrown,
And all the beautiful art you’ve created with such grace and such finesse,
But I admit there are a few things I’m afraid have impressed me less.
So I’m writing to apologize for all the horrors committed in my name,
Although that was never what I intended, I feel I should take my share of the blame.
All the good I tried to do was corrupted when all the religion got into full swing,
What I thought were quite clear messages were taken to unusual extremes.
My teachings taken out of context to meet the agendas of others,
Interpretations taken to many different ways and hidden meanings discovered
Religion became a tool, for the weak to control the strong
With all these new morals and ethics, survival of the fittest was gone
No longer could the biggest man simply take whatever he needed
‘cause damnation was the price if certain rules were not heeded
Some of the deeds committed in my name just made me wonder were I went wrong.
Back at the start when I created this, the foundation seemed so strong.
See all the elements were already here, long before I began, I just kind of put it all together
I didn’t really think out a long-term plan.
I made the sun an appropriate distance and laid the stars across the sky
So you could navigate the globe or simply watch the sun rise
I covered the earth with plants and fruits,
Some for sustenance and some for beauty
I made the sun shine and the clouds rain so their maintenance wasn’t your duty
I tried to give each creature its own attributes without making them enveloped
I gave you all you all your own space to grow and in your own way space to develop
I didn’t know such development would cause rifts and jealousy
Cause you to war against each other and leave marks on this planet indelibly
You see, I wasn’t really the creater, I was just the curator of nature
I want to get something straight with homosexuals right now: I don’t hate ya
I was a simple being that happened to be the first to wield such powers
I just laid the ground, it was You that built the towers
It was You that invented bombs, and the fear that comes with them
And it was You that invented money, and the corrupt economic systems
You invented terms like just-war and terms like friendly fire
And it was You that didn’t know when to stop digging deeper, when to stop building higher
It was You that exhausted the resources I carefully laid out on this earth,
And it was You that even saw these problems coming but accredited them little worth
It was You that used my teachings for your own personal gain
And it was You that committed such tragedies, even though they were in my name
So I apologize for any mistakes I made, and when my words misconstrued
But this apology’s to mother nature, cause I created you
--
Hi Kieran,
I’ve only just come across your site & it looks great… as does your link to Dan Le’s short here.
I couldn’t help pass your comment by:
“As yet I have not worked out exactly how to use and so would be interested in peoples thoughts!”
Don’t mean this to be a gratuitous plug, but we DO do this kind of thing all the time at http://www.campfire.org.au, with 1 page study notes called “fireside studies” for exactly this reason (using short films as discussion-starters). In fact, we might look at hosting this one down the track. Drop by some time.
I’ll certainly be back HERE!
Oh, and just a word of caution - Campfire technically has an 18+ rating, so you should consider Adam’s comment (#2 above) before setting your classes loose on the films we exhibit. :)
Keep up the good work.
Richard
Earlier on this post I said i’d let you know if i successfully used it, and i have!
I used it in a lesson on Why People Believe In God together with the poem ‘Where is God?’ (from the recent schoolswork.co.uk email) and got the year 10 class to think about why the authors believe in God. I then asked them about their views on God before explaining why I am a Christian.
It worked ok, I would definitely refine it next time to make the aim of the activity extra-clear, especially as it was a compulsory GCSE Short Course group so half of the class wanted to be anywhere but in RE!
It was also important to make sure they all realised that I think some different things about God than the two authors.