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The Art We Surround Ourselves With

So, what I am going to talk about today is something that made me start to wonder where I stand on the question- "Does art affect you?" We were sitting in class two weeks ago and Mrs. Ernst, my English IV teacher, gave us an argumentative essay on whether or not art affects us. Now, in an argumentative essay, you must pick a side and stick with it. For the essay I struggled with one to side with. So this is how I would respond to the question if I could of picked the middle-"If art affects us?" Okay, so since this is not an argumentative essay, I can ride the fence, I guess you would say. So, I believe that the way that we live our lives is partially affected by the things that we surround ourselves with, but at the same time, I believe that we are in control of our actions. Now, for this topic, I am not only talking about art, but also the people we hang around, the interests that we have, whatever in our life that we surround ourselves in. I believe that we all control our own actions! Anything that we do is cause of us. Whether we do something to glorify Christ, something positive, or something negative, it was our doing. So, I believe, to an extant, that we are in control of our actions. But I believe even stronger in that what we surround ourselves dictate our actions. All my life I had convinced myself that the music I listened to, the TV shows I watched, and the friends that I surrounded myself with did not affect me, but over time I found out that it does affect me. I believe strongly that when we listen to music that is not uplifting, but downgrading, I feel as if it affects our day and our living, For example, whenever I listen to the Hill (Christian radio station) in the morning, I almost every day have a good day and I am more positive about life. Whenever I listen to some secular radio station, my day is not so bright and my perspective on life is not as good as the mornings I listen to Christian music. Ok, so one excuse I have heard so many times is this, "Well, I don't listen to the lyrics, I just like the beat."…..Really? all right then, so finish these lines for me. 'All week long, I've been a real nobody, but I just punched out and its paycheck Friday, the weekend is here Good god almighty, __________________________" For country fans, I am sure you can finish that line. Now for those that listen to other genres, I know for a fact that if someone asks you, you can sing the chorus to any popular song…… Now tell me that you don't listen to the words. Whether you know it or not, the songs you listen to affect you. Another thing that affects us is the people we hang out with. It is proven that the people that we surround ourselves with will impact you greatly. Okay, so at camp, two summers ago, our teacher asked the building for the biggest, strongest guy in the room. It ended up being Chance Yates! For those that do not know him, He is about 275 or so, almost all muscle. He is solid. He is an absolute beast. He can bench a car most likely and could squat 600 something his freshman year in High School!!! So chance comes up to the front of the room, and the teacher asks for the smallest person in the room. It ends up being my best friend, Courtney Begnaud who is all of 98 pounds and 4'11". So it is basically a true David and Goliath situation. Then the teacher gets Chance to get on a chair. So he tells Chance to pull up Courtney and despite all his strength, he can not lift her up. Then he tells Courtney to pull down Chance. She tugs at Chances arm just a little bit and he fell off the chair. This 98 pound girl just pulled down the strongest guy I knew. The teacher tied it in perfectly with the people we surround ourselves with. 9 times out of 10 the people we surround ourselves, if they are not Christians or are not striving towards him, will bring us down, So, I challenge you to be aware of the people and the things you surround yourself with because no matter what you think, it affects your life. So, is the art that you surround yourself with positive or negative? Is it helping you in your walk with Christ?