Goldberry423's Blog
Bright Eyes is Amazing!
I am a huge Bright Eyes fan. Conor Oberst's poetry is so full of emotion and so original. One of my favorite songs is "Waste of Paint" from the album "Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground." It's almost like he's just letting out a stream of consciousness message because there is so much imagery and different mental pictures brought to mind.
I also like it because it reminds me of how hopeless so many people can be. In the first part, he talks about his friend who has no concept of self-worth. Even though he is a great artist, he still thinks he's worthless.
In the next part, he describes a woman who has been lied to. She knows she's living a lie and that her life is empty.
In the third part, he talks about his brother who has to take responsibility for his own actions. As an adult, he is now living in a disappointing world of pain.
In the next part, he recognizes that true love is real for some people, but he doesn't understand why he cannot find it.
In the fifth part, he describes the way people seem to be going about their pointless lives without realizing it. He wants to scream at them, but then he realizes that it is he who is living a meaningless life.
In the last part, he goes to a church where everything seems to be pointing upwards towards God. He wants to join the people there, but he feels like he cannot meet the standards required. So, he gives up, keeping his brokenness and emptiness. He does not believe, but he wants to because he would then be loved completely.
This is true of many people. They feel like they cannot follow all of God's rules, so they just give up and are left with nothing.
It is true that we cannot meet God's standards (Romans 3:23). He is perfect and we are not. It doesn't matter how good or bad we are, we still are not perfect, and God can't stand the bad that humans do. And, because he can't stand it, we die and are separated from God forever. We've earned death because we've all done bad things (Romans 6:23). There is nothing we can do to be good enough to please God. This explains why people can feel so alone and hopeless. "Waste of Paint" captures this loneliness and loss perfectly.
What "Waste of Paint" does not describe is the way that people can have hope. God loves us even though we do such bad things, and he decided to make a way for us to meet his standards. He sent Jesus to earth 2,000 years ago to take all the bad things that every human has ever done and pay the penalty for them (Romans 5:8). He was God's son, so he was perfect. Since he was perfect, he was able to take all the bad things we've done upon himself. When he was crucified, he died to pay for us so we could be seen as perfect before God. He died in our place so that we wouldn't have to die to pay for all the bad things we have done. Three days later, he rose from the dead, proving that he had beat death and evil. Because God raised him from the dead, we can know that his death was enough to take care of all the evil in the world.
It's not enough to hear about Jesus, or even to know that it's true. You have to believe it and trust in his death to get you to heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). You can't rely on the good things you've done or your creativity or even your belief that God's not real. If you believe that Jesus died for you because you're not good enough, then you will be seen as perfect before God and allowed to go to heaven and live forever.
Is there anything keeping you from trusting in Jesus? If there is, write down your reasons and think them through. Are they reason enough to keep you from going to heaven? If not, trust in Jesus right now so you can live forever. You don't have to live without hope in this cold and disappointing world. You're not a waste of paint.
I also like it because it reminds me of how hopeless so many people can be. In the first part, he talks about his friend who has no concept of self-worth. Even though he is a great artist, he still thinks he's worthless.
In the next part, he describes a woman who has been lied to. She knows she's living a lie and that her life is empty.
In the third part, he talks about his brother who has to take responsibility for his own actions. As an adult, he is now living in a disappointing world of pain.
In the next part, he recognizes that true love is real for some people, but he doesn't understand why he cannot find it.
In the fifth part, he describes the way people seem to be going about their pointless lives without realizing it. He wants to scream at them, but then he realizes that it is he who is living a meaningless life.
In the last part, he goes to a church where everything seems to be pointing upwards towards God. He wants to join the people there, but he feels like he cannot meet the standards required. So, he gives up, keeping his brokenness and emptiness. He does not believe, but he wants to because he would then be loved completely.
This is true of many people. They feel like they cannot follow all of God's rules, so they just give up and are left with nothing.
It is true that we cannot meet God's standards (Romans 3:23). He is perfect and we are not. It doesn't matter how good or bad we are, we still are not perfect, and God can't stand the bad that humans do. And, because he can't stand it, we die and are separated from God forever. We've earned death because we've all done bad things (Romans 6:23). There is nothing we can do to be good enough to please God. This explains why people can feel so alone and hopeless. "Waste of Paint" captures this loneliness and loss perfectly.
What "Waste of Paint" does not describe is the way that people can have hope. God loves us even though we do such bad things, and he decided to make a way for us to meet his standards. He sent Jesus to earth 2,000 years ago to take all the bad things that every human has ever done and pay the penalty for them (Romans 5:8). He was God's son, so he was perfect. Since he was perfect, he was able to take all the bad things we've done upon himself. When he was crucified, he died to pay for us so we could be seen as perfect before God. He died in our place so that we wouldn't have to die to pay for all the bad things we have done. Three days later, he rose from the dead, proving that he had beat death and evil. Because God raised him from the dead, we can know that his death was enough to take care of all the evil in the world.
It's not enough to hear about Jesus, or even to know that it's true. You have to believe it and trust in his death to get you to heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). You can't rely on the good things you've done or your creativity or even your belief that God's not real. If you believe that Jesus died for you because you're not good enough, then you will be seen as perfect before God and allowed to go to heaven and live forever.
Is there anything keeping you from trusting in Jesus? If there is, write down your reasons and think them through. Are they reason enough to keep you from going to heaven? If not, trust in Jesus right now so you can live forever. You don't have to live without hope in this cold and disappointing world. You're not a waste of paint.
