BURNING MAN – BLING VERSUS LIGHT

Babylon, Mesopotamia – Black Rock Desert, Nevada

Babylon: ⁹“May the king live forever! ¹⁰ Your Majesty has issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of …all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, ¹¹ and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace.

Black Rock: Hey man didn’t you get the Flash Mob tweet? Everybody is on high alert listening for the beats – the Business Ballers, the Pay-Pal Politicians, the App Store Pastors, the LinkedIn Legends, the Facebook Phenoms, the YouTube Dudes, and the Instagram Babes. WhatsApp with you, even your wife is sleeping in her Bluetooth Ear Buds.

Babylon: ¹² But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Black Rock: Dude, they got you and your posse on blast. Old boy told the Head Baller that even though your game is tight: you refuse to raise your hands in the air because you actually don’t care or place your hat over your morals as he dictates; you refuse to imbibe or vote as the king wishes to remain bling-tight. They say you holding out for a distant lover.

Babylon: ¹³ Furious with rage, the King summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, ¹⁴ and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? ¹⁵ Now when you hear the sound of …all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you…?

Black Rock: The: democrats, republicans, and independents; red and blue state people; the left, right, rich, and poor; the liberals, conservatives, and libertarians; the CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News anchors – are furious. They’re demanding that you confess your allegiance to the orthodoxy of this age before the next explicit mix track finishes, or your swagger and bling will be vaporized by scurrilous Internet innuendo and a media beat down.

Babylon: ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him… we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.

Black Rock: Ok Big Dogs, we get it; you believe only what you can see. Your fresh castle, phat chariot, and gangsta posse, have you thinking you actually roll like that. We hear you’ve already sold out our “Burning Man” performance. However, our Master has a season pass for every show in the universe, when He comes you’ll realize He doesn’t need a seat.

Babylon: ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Black Rock: By the way, even if our Master should decide to skip “Burning Man” this year, your band still has no swagger, and we don’t do Beats.