{"id":5366,"date":"2011-05-09T17:26:04","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T22:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/?p=5366"},"modified":"2011-05-09T18:49:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T23:49:08","slug":"more-mystery-lady-gaga-prays-to-god-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/more-mystery-lady-gaga-prays-to-god-video\/","title":{"rendered":"More Mystery: Video, Lady Gaga PRAYS (yes, to God)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Several times I have covered Lady Gaga on this blog. She\u00a0is a complicated person, and now she&#8217;s openly speaking of spiritual things. So, this is my tuff (area of expertise and education), and I want to weigh in. You can too.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the habit of most who comment about Gaga to past judgement on her, but that is not the point of this post, or my other posts. While I welcome your comments, I ask that you attempt to be thoughtful and intelligent in your responses.\u00a0You don&#8217;t have to like her to comment, but if you want to bash her, \u00a0find a different blog to barf on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It seems she&#8217;s the archetype of a person who is (seemingly) easy to pigeon hole.<\/strong> But this mega star, and so many like her (who are <em>not<\/em> in the limelight) are just people who are trying to find their way in the world. You may think differently, but maybe you should watch the footage below, first.<\/p>\n<p>I provide this engagement on the topic of the person who is \u00a0the singer and performer Stefani Germanotta because so many are watching her and following her.<\/p>\n<p>When she asks people to do things, millions respond. This strikes me as important to note for Christians, as we interact with those God loves, and enact the messge of the gospel of God&#8217;s grace poured out on us, in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Also, I think it helps (as Christians) to engage the struggles of many people, all while questioning <strong>our<\/strong> motives and the hidden influencers of our interactions with people that sound, look, dress, and act differently than we prefer. <strong>I&#8217;d say it takes to task our enactments of grace and love toward God, ourselves, and others. I hope it will challenge this in you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Besides, it&#8217;s really a gawker vortex, seriously, no?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">So, here is the topic de jour. Let&#8217;s talk about this. I found this recent video footage quite curious:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>The scoop:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><strong>Unlike many stars, Lady Gaga <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">prays<\/span><\/strong> before concerts (to God, not <em>herself<\/em> as some might first assume or expect).<\/p>\n<p>This <strong>prayer<\/strong> footage (from her upcoming HBO special) begins at the 2:40 marker. (The first part of the video is somewhat of a breakdown in her confidence. Quite a bit of crying, part pep talk, some non sequitur stuff, and some emotional hysteria. But, to me, it <strong>also<\/strong> seems to be, at least in part, some genuine footage of the acute struggle this 25 year old has performing and living life larger than life in front of millions of fans and foes.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will her public prayers to God encourage others to rely on him too? Perhaps. What do you think?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>And, yes, in case you&#8217;re wondering&#8230;I <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">could<\/span> speak to what seems like a bit of flawed theology, but I&#8217;m waiting for her to phone me, so we can talk it over.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Actually, I think many would be good to follow her lead in <em>seeking God&#8217;s help<\/em>, as she does here. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yes, I question her use of the word &#8220;worship&#8221; when \u00a0speaking about her fans. It strikes me as overdone, misguided, and\/or unhealthy, <strong>unless she is actually referencing serving and loving them selflessly<\/strong>. And, yes, it could all be just a stunt, as pop stars are given to do. I&#8217;m not naive.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless it provokes a deeper look at the spiritual.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s face it, how many super stars pray, and ask for God&#8217;s help before a show, let alone allow the world to see them do it? Don&#8217;t say &#8220;Amy Grant&#8221;. That doesn&#8217;t count.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #993300;\">Remember this also<\/span>, her core fans <span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #993300;\">aren&#8217;t<\/span> Christians, or praying types, in particular. What does it behove her to be so &#8220;old fashioned&#8221;? <\/strong><strong>Isn&#8217;t it much cooler to be &#8220;over Christianity&#8221; and be Buddhist or wear a red string Kabbalah bracelet?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sign up to continue the conversation\/see future posts.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">NOTE: If you watch the first part, or the very end after, marker 3:46, be aware that there is some <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">cussing<\/span>. <\/span><span style=\"color: #993300;\">You have been warned.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><object width=\"480\" height=\"269\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/swf\/video\/xiffen\" \/><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"480\" height=\"269\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/swf\/video\/xiffen\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\"><\/embed><\/object>3:46<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/video\/xiffen_lady-gaga-presents-gaga-revealed_music\" target=\"_blank\">Lady Gaga Presents: Gaga Revealed<\/a> <em>by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/HBO\" target=\"_blank\">HBO<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><!--subscribe2--><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several times I have covered Lady Gaga on this blog. She\u00a0is a complicated person, and now she&#8217;s openly speaking of spiritual things. So, this is my tuff (area of expertise and education), and I want to weigh in. You can too. It&#8217;s the habit of most who comment about Gaga to past judgement on her, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/more-mystery-lady-gaga-prays-to-god-video\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">More Mystery: Video, Lady Gaga PRAYS (yes, to God)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,76],"tags":[6534,378,4630,584,593,14,4627,858,4638,4759,22,1233,1236,4632,1472,1524,4760,1590,1614,1887,1949,2072,2077,51,4623,4622,4313,53,4762,60,4647,4633,4761,4620,3056,4628,4635,4636,3190,6539,4637,3267,85,4624,4621,3640,3749,90,91],"class_list":["post-5366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-spirituality","tag-art","tag-belief","tag-born-this-way","tag-catholic","tag-celebrity","tag-christians","tag-concert","tag-creatives","tag-culture-war","tag-dance","tag-evangelism","tag-fans","tag-fashion","tag-fundamentalists","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-h-meat-dress","tag-hate","tag-hell","tag-judas","tag-lady-gaga","tag-lord","tag-love","tag-ministry","tag-monster-ball","tag-monsters","tag-mother-monster","tag-music","tag-pop-star","tag-prayer","tag-prayer-foibles","tag-protesters","tag-queen","tag-rock-star","tag-shane-tucker","tag-show","tag-smug","tag-snide","tag-spiritual-direction","tag-spirituality","tag-stefani-germanotta","tag-strength","tag-theology","tag-tour","tag-videos","tag-war","tag-worldview","tag-worldviews","tag-worship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5366"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5371,"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5366\/revisions\/5371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisadelay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}