Ultralight Beam

"Ultralight Beam" by Kanye West is probably my favorite song at the moment because it is a beautiful song but also illustrates my internal religious debate. "Ultralight Beam" is one of those songs I can countlessly listen to and not get tired of it, and if you have not listened to it you should.

I'm (Baptist) Christian and grew up practicing the religion. Shortly after I was out of the womb I was practicing Christianity. My parents christened me when I was around a year old, admitting me into the christian church. I did not have a decision when I was young to accept the religion but as I grow older I now do, and I don't know what choice to make.

In a verse the song states:
"I'm trying to keep my faith
But I'm looking for more
Somewhere I can feel safe
And end my holy war
I'm tryna keep my faith

So why send oppression not blessings?
Why, oh, why'd you do me wrong?
You persecute the weak
Because it makes you feel so strong
Don't have much strength to fight 
So I look to the light
To make these wrongs turn right
Head up high, I look to the light
Hey, 'cause I know that you'll make everything alright
And I know that you'll take good care of your child
Oh, no longer am afraid of the night
'Cause I, I look to the light"

In Christianity you make the decision to practice christianity on your own and not just your parents forcing you. Meaning you are now in charge of the religious path you want to take. I've always struggled to comprehend religion. It seems like something humans created in order to be less scared of the unknown, more specifically death. Having the goal of heaven gives life a meaning we otherwise would not have/know. 

Christianity is built on faith, meaning "complete trust or confidence in someone or something". Having faith is difficult when you have to have faith in a belief and something you can not fully comprehend. Like the song states it is hard to belief in something so gracious, powerful, and benevolent when so much evil is happening in the world. Christianity requires you to trust, and I have trust issues. I lack trust in the religion because of school shootings, police brutality, global warming, the list goes on.

Religion in general confuses me. There are so many religions and branches I always think "we can't all be right" but also "we all cant be wrong... hopefully". I'm interested to read what people think, it will probably be more composed than my thoughts in this blog post.

Comments

  1. Smita NairNovember 28, 2019 at 6:25 PM

    Religion is confusing. I used to be more agnostic, but then someone explained to me how if a man dies religious and god isn't real, it's fine bc nothing happens, but if he dies un-religious and god is real he's screwed, and now I'm just not sure. If god is real, I don't want him to catch me lacking.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Olivia TaylorDecember 13, 2019 at 4:13 PM

    This is amazing, and I'm really glad this song has been so thought provoking. Another song that you might like is Truth by Lecrae, it addresses a couple of the things you mentioned. If you are debating your Christian faith, I also really recommend reading or watching "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. This is a very difficult and thought provoking subject and I hope you are able to learn and think more about it in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nil PatelDecember 18, 2019 at 1:51 PM

    This song is absolutely incredible and is one of my favorites off of The Life of Pablo. Although I'm not Christian, I really enjoyed the gospel influence of this song and how beneficial religion seems in the lives of some of my favorite artists.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nicole SoutheyDecember 19, 2019 at 6:37 PM

    I agree religion is confusing. I think religion is best used when it is not about self preservation or excluding groups. When the universal theme of religion to love all and to treat people with kindness this is good.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDecember 27, 2019 at 2:18 PM

    Ngl, in the chaos of our everyday lives, religion is pretty easy to forget. However, through Kanye's valiant efforts, Christianity is once again brought to the eyes of the public. I especially love his versatility and evolution as an artist; he's so eternal and can make music that encompasses whatever he wants. I particularly enjoyed how you related your internal struggle with lyrics of his song.

    ReplyDelete

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