The Logical Song

"The Logical Song" presents ideas we can all relate to. Supertramp released the song in 1979, but it is still very relevant to this day and age. When we are young we are carefree and don't question anything we are told to do. Every day is a new adventure for us and we can't wait to get out into the world and play.

As we grow up, we start shifting our focus toward grades, appearance, members of the opposite sex; soon we are focusing on work, deadlines, bills, and family. Although we grow older it seems that we continue to not question the world around us. Just like we were afraid of getting put in time out, now we are afraid of getting fired, put in jail, divorce, and the list goes on and on. We have been conditioned to live a certain way; society guides us so that we don't have to guide ourselves. Forces all around us tell us who to be and what to think, so of course we are terrified to be ourselves. "Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal." We are expected to fit into this mold so anything we do outside of that mold labels us as unusual and outrageous. It is this contradictory way of life we live in; we are forced to conform and yet we are also told to be ourselves and embrace the "freedom" we have in this country.

This song made me think of the C.S Lewis quote found in chapter one of Plantinga's book where Lewis says we are far too easily pleased. Way too many of us go through the motions day to day and never stop to question or take a break. "Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned? I know it sounds absurd, but please tell me who I am." Examine the activities that fall between the start and end of your day, are you engaging in play, work, or rest that you desire to participate in? For me, it can be very hard some mornings to get up and make it to class, work, or wherever I am going that day. That is because my mindset is far too often "I need to go to class to get an A, to graduate, to find a job" or "I have to go to work to make money, to pay bills, to keep my car running." Rarely am I engaging in a life that stimulates my mind and acts on my creativity. I think a lot of us get too caught up in who we are supposed to be, defined by the media around us, that we don't know how to be who we want to be and who God wants us to be. We've become too reserved and content that we aren't even aware of what we're learning, what our purpose is, and what brings us joy.

What I am struggling with as I contemplate after each reading is the answer to all the questions that arise from the texts. As a college student I am expected to be studying hard to graduate and at the same time I am supposed to be having the time of my life, embracing freedom and new changes. It seems that I am living in a world that is one big contradiction and I do not know to change that. I would much rather be downtown on the streets interacting with the poor, instead of sitting in a classroom talking about how to help them. However, this would not pay my bills or get me a degree so I am stuck in the routine society has laid out for me.