Just yesterday I received an mp3 file from my good friend, Jesse Owen Astin (aka Like Clockwork), featuring his new record “The Dark”. It is an engaging song that focuses on some of the struggles that JOA had to endure earlier in his life. If you haven’t heard Jesse’s music, or even if you have, I have provided a link to his Like Clockwork page, and you can listen to the songs of the up and coming singer/songwriter:
I hardly ever do music reviews, but there is one aspect of this song that has made me think. Someone who wouldn’t know Jesse may hear this song and say “What’s with this guy; why can’t he sing about happy stuff??” 
What’s funny is people who know Jesse would say that he’s a content person. In fact, he’s one of the most content guys that I know, and in these dark and uncertain times, Jesse is a crusader for “Good”.
And herein lies the point: the world is a dark, fallen place, and the reason that it is that way is because not enough “Good” people are willing to stand up and face The Evil they will inevitably come across. Evil from society. Evil from other people. Their own Evil.
We watch television and see disturbing images. What do we do? We change the channel. We meet a person who has committed a sin, and whether or not he has long since repented for it, what do we do? We pass judgment. When we commit wrongdoing, instead of admitting our guilt, we reason with ourselves that we are justified for what we’ve done. Or if we can’t justify our actions, we keep it hidden so that no one else will know; after all, it won’t be wrong if no one else knows, right?
If suppressing hidden guilt was the only problem we had concerning the darkness in our world, than we might not be in big trouble. After all, it’s not exactly news that everyone has secrets, and most of us will admit it whenever we are wrong.
The major issue is that we face is that when we come across Evil, we don’t even realize that it’s Evil that we’re facing. Sure, everyone is familiar with evil deeds such as murder, stealing, lying, etc. However, the darkest Evils are the ones that know how to cloak themselves with the voice of division of reason. Have you ever heard one of the following…
You’re not allowed to do that…
There’s nothing you can do about it…
They’re different from us…
That’s just the way it is…
The old adage goes “The sky is the limit!” However, the reality of it is that most people don’t even know how high the sky is since they’ve never been told. One the most powerful strokes of action that Evil takes is to place limitations on our lives and being divisive, because it knows that if all of us were to unite and live up to our fullest potential, then its stronghold on the world would be decimated forever.
One day in the near future, I believe the overwhelming responses to the above statements will be…
Yes we are…
Yes there is…
Yes, and they’re beautiful for it…
And the last statement will not even exist as a statement since we will be too busy progressing towards fulfilling our purpose in life.
There is a battle between Good and Evil, and if you’re not facing the dark, then you are (unwittingly perhaps) on the side of the Dark. Face the Dark, my friends, and do not be afraid. You will become stronger by doing so.
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