browneyedgirl wrote:Well, in church I was taught the concept of Alpha&Omega meant the completeness of God, that God is everything, the Great I AM.
miditek is much more articulate regarding things of this matter, so maybe he can give his point of view here.
However, I don't want to turn this into a religion topic, just wanted to discuss for a bit, the conception of the terms, Alpha & Omega.
The concept of Alpha & Omega helps to illustrate the omnipotence and omnipresence of God. He was never born, and thus, He will never die. Even though it is a concept that none of us can truly grasp, it is simple enough to at least accept God's word at face value.
I have no idea if Tolkki was mocking God when he wrote the lyrics to that particular track, but I do find it to be fascinating that someone who claims that there is no God certainly does spend a lot of time talking about Him.
To elaborate, the most popular blog on Myspace.com "The End of Christianity" is, of course, written by an atheist. Why does this guy spend so much time writing about a God that he does not believe in? Well, the answer is probably not very simple, but it seems to me that he is a very lonely guy, and just loves all of the attention that he gets from all of his synchophants and parrots. (Sound familiar?)
If God does not exist, then why do people like this obsess over Him? There are plenty of other things for an atheist to do- he could ride a bike, read a book, go see a movie, and do lots of other activities that ostensibly should be far more fascinating than fretting over Something that they consider to be a "myth'.
And Tolkki is certainly no exception. I really don't believe for one second that he is an atheist; in fact, I actually think that he seems to alternatively at times to be angry with God for either existing or for not existing! If this guy really has the world by the tail with a good career, money in the bank, a nice home, wife and kids, adoring fans- "the whole nine yards", as we say in America, then why is he so unhappy? Why does he feel the need to act out with outrageous stunts in the press, and then turn his own forums into a ghost town? (Remember tolkki.com? There are, as of yet, undiscovered parts of the Peruvian jungle that get more traffic than that site does at this point in time!) He preaches peace, love, and tolerance, but I have yet to seem him practice what he preaches! But don't take my word for it, just ask his friends in Stratovarius!
Why, do we ask? The why is that God has indeed reached out to Tolkki at many points in his life, and Tolkki rejects God. God WANTS to comfort him, and to show him that he is loved for who he IS rather than for being some ridiculous prefabricated image that no one is really buying into to begin with. Does raving, ranting militant atheism and happiness ever go hand in hand? The more that Tolkki fights God and pushes Him away, then the more unhappy, unsatisfied, and miserable he will become. I've been there myself, and I can speak about this from personal experience.
For the sake of argument and comparison, let's take a look at someone else for a moment- an unknown, but someone that should have 'the world by the tail', as it were, but in the end, is utterly and completely miserable. While dodging beer bottles and pizza boxes that were being hurled at me one evening, not long ago, I endured the following tearful rant from my ex- "Who wouldn't want to live in a five hundred thousand dollar house that overlooks the city? Who wouldn't want to drive a seventy thousand dollar BMW? Who would PAY to be with YOU? What girl wouldn't want hundreds of thousands of dollars of Prada and Escada hanging in her closet? I can have ANY many that I want! Older gentlemen LOVE me! They give me thousands of dollars in cash and hundreds of dollars of cocaine at a time! I take care of my kids! I'm not a whore! I have a better life than anyone else! I'm not a drug addict! I'm not an alcoholic! I loved you when I was a little girl! I though that you had a good heart! Blah, Blah, Blah"
Now of course, I could be wrong, but does anyone here think that sounds like a happy person? A spiritual person? No. In the end, it's just another lost soul that thinks MORE of this or MORE of that will somehow lead to happiness! Guess what? It just hasn't happened yet, and it's very likely that it never will. Mutual exploitation is a very nasty, transactional type of game, and it is one that I simply will not play- and I really don't give a damn if I have known that person since I was a teenager! Privately, @beg (as well as other friends) have given me some sound advice- in a word- FLEE!
C.S. Lewis once wrote that happiness apart from God is simply not possible. That was my most recent battle. "If only she would get off of the coke. If only she would stop drinking. If only she weren't fanatically materialistic. If only I could rescue her from her demons! THEN I could be HAPPY too!" (If only!)
I for one think he is absolutely correct. We can busy ourselves with all of the temptations and distractions that the world has to offer, but in the end, it only leads to dissatisfaction, emptiness, and bitterness. True happiness comes from an intimate relationship with the One that truly loves you more than anyone else ever possibly could. Realizing this, and most importantly, LIVING it, is what I would call TRUE spirituality. Everything else is merely propaganda and jargon. God jerked me out of a very bad situation, and almost overnight, once I made up my mind to OBEY Him and to LIVE for Him, I immediately began to see some unbelievably dramatic changes in my own life. Had I not listened to Him, then it would not have been a very happy ending for me. Just a lifetime of a Christian wallowing about in self-pity wondering why (what might have been)- IF ONLY.
One night, I cried out loudly to God that he was being unfair to me, and that if He really did love me, then why was I suffering so much in a relationship with someone that I had known, as I said, since I was a teenager. While reading the Bible for comfort later on- He answered, and what He said was astonishing: (This passage would probably make little sense without the introductory story- so thanks for your patience!)
The Way of Folly
(Proverbs 9:13-18, NKJV)
(13) A foolish woman is clamorous;
She is simple, and knows nothing.
(14) For she sits at the door of her house,
On a seat by the highest places of the city,
(15) To call to those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
(16) “ Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”;
And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to
him.
(17) “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret
is pleasant.”
(18.) But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Hell
You see, we all have our demons, but God is our Champion, and He will help anyone here that is open to Him. It might not be overnight, it might not be next week, or even next year, but if you truly seek Him, then when you do find Him, it will be absolutely, positively, unmistakable.
It is my earnest hope and honest prayer that each and every one of you that does not know God (even Tolkki!) eventually will....
.
You are impossible. What do you know about the others lambstatus??? Nothing. But you think you have all the answers. To everything! But mostly to every person in a band called Stratovarius. And you could be Mr Tolkkis therapeut since you know
I give up on you. I almost fell asleep over your looooong dramatic explanationes. I don't always understand what you say or mean, and first I thougt my english wasnt good enough, but now I can see that you sometimes are i bit confused and contradict yourself. You think maybe that is funny but after a couple of weeks it get's tiresome. Sorry baby it will be even more fun if you take it easy and make yourself understandabel 
. im not 
myself I just write fast and don't think 
over or read what I write until later. 
but the difference in your writing style between here&there is very noticeable, and I know its not my imagination! 