Sign Of The Times: Writings of Joseph J Sardo

"Everybody's talking and no one says a word." ~John Lennon I disagree with strong rage against Donald Trump because if we live in such a world where he could be elected President- that's on all of us and not just one man or those who voted for him. It's time we take some accountability for the fallen world we live in. Any lack of love you give - even tiny - ripples and contributes to something negative, and vice versa for goodness, kindness, and peace. Many of us claim we are "good people" and have as deep a morality as "As long as you haven't killed anyone." But do you kill people's spirits? When you ignore, put down, cut off, envy, and are angry with your neighbour you kill their spirit. Physical murder ends life, but murdering the spirit can shatter a living person- making them wish they were dead, and sometimes, going through with it themselves. Same with school shooters, bullies, whatever it is. If you find yourself pointing...

Let's lose our minds and go crazy crazy- like a moth to a flame So don't get me wrong. I actually like both of these songs. But I'm still going to sort of "critique" them from a lyrical standpoint and challenge the current thematic elements of so many modern pop songs. 2 pop songs The two songs are "Cake By The Ocean" by DNCE and the other is "Cautious" by Tyler Shaw. The first is from a few years back (2015) but the Tyler Shaw one is quite current and isn't exactly a massive hit song or anything but it is getting radio play. My thesis My basic thesis in blunt form is that the lyrical themes of modern pop almost seem to worship sex and "dangerous" romantic encounters where we are called to "give it all", even to a stranger - even if it's "dangerous" - just "let it all go", "go for it", it's worth the risk baby baby, let's do this. We take it for granted but I think it...

It is not an uncommon thing for me to come up against the idea that church or religion is essentially irrelevant, boring, or designed to oppress the human person and not free it. One thing I am most compelled to pose back to you, then, is: Isn't that how our modern lives without God are becoming? It's not a mystery. Those who become profoundly religious  (whatever saying the words "profoundly religious" even means to you) were 9.8 times out of 10 a student of the world: a secular person. Someone living essentially without God . Pope Benedict XVI called it "practical atheism." Another definition that rings true for many is: "Believing in God but living as if He doesn't exist." Is that you? Honestly, I'm not really appealing to those who are passionately, sometimes aggressively against or hateful of religion or God. I'm appealing to 'you' - who, like a lot of people, believe in God, believe in all of it, yet on a practica...

"Wisdom is radiant and unfading,   and she is easily discerned by those           who love her,   and is found by those who seek her."   ~ Wisdom 6:12 The Bible's hidden gem... The Bible includes a portion towards the end of the Old Testament known as the "Wisdom literature." I am pretty pumped (not a biblical term, lol) about this section of the bible and would love to share that with you! Basically it includes the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach. Daily mass readings... Last week in the Catholic Church's daily mass readings, the 1st reading - given before the gospel reading - was all taken out of the Book of Wisdom (or Wisdom of Solomon). I think the Wisdom literature is a really amazing part of the Bible, and you might find that venturing into the Bible by starting here could be a great launching pad. You might be really surprised at how profound it is! Truly wisdom does ...

  I've been thinking too much / Help me A few moments ago I was on the bus. The driver left his passengers momentarily at the Eastgate Square terminal to go grab a snack in the mall. There were 7 of us left in the bus, waiting. This wouldn’t be the first time I thought of this, but I imagined having the guts and the giftedness it would take to be like: “Hey everybody! My name is Joe, how are you all doing today?” I think I even have done things to this effect before, and unfortunately I’ve found that people can be rather cold and disturbed; and frankly unprepared for real human encounters. However, is it impossible that at least one soul on that bus besides me could have fancied some small talk (and maybe even some honest life talk)? No, I don’t think that’s impossible at all. Living in fear or living in love The problem, though, is probably one we all share. Fear of rejection, fear of a negative response, fear of being ignored… I haven’t yet been given th...

We don’t talk enough / We should open up / Before it’s all too much / Will we ever learn? / We’ve been here before / It’s just what we know Besides the mention of the “sign of the times” which I consider poignant, and deceptively so, as it’s hidden in a "mainstream pop" song, I believe it’s this part of the song that really delivers the punch that I’m not sure that we hear as a listener. (Probably because it’s hidden near the end of a 5-minute long song.) The verses to me are just meandering around comforting a loved one about these troublesome, strange days that are among us. Do you feel it? We are the same, yet we are changing. Not necessarily calls to despair, but definitely a summons to change. And it's about time, isn't it? We don't talk enough - we talk, but what do we really say? "Everybody's talking, but no one says a word," cried Lennon. There's more than the Kardashians to talk about, and we sh...