Matthew Burkholder

" We believe in Marx, Freud and Darwin. We believe that everything is OK   as long as you don’t hurt anyone,   to the best of your definition of hurt, and to the best of your definition of knowledge. We believe in sex before, during and after marriage. We believe in the therapy of sin; we believe that adultery's fun. we believe that sodomy's OK we believe that taboos are taboo. We believe that everything is getting better despite evidence to the contrary. The evidence must be investigated. You can prove anything with evidence. We believe there is something in horoscopes, UFO’s and bent spoons. Jesus was a good man just like Buddha Mohammad and ourselves. He was a good moral teacher although we think that his good morals were really bad. We believe that all religions are basically the same, at least the ones we read were. They all believe in love and goodness.They only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation. We believe that after death comes No...

I went to go check out a childhood friends facebook page in the winter of 2010. I hadn't talked to him since I was a teenager. I soon found out that I would never talk to him again, I did a quick google search and found out that he had been apart of an online gaming community. I tracked him down to some forums where I suddenly became away that something tragic had befallen him. The last time I had talked to him was shortly after I moved back to southwestern Ontario. I don't remember much of the conversation, except that he told me he was feeling depressed. I was 13 at the time and depression was just a word that I thought meant "sad". We caught up, talked about the trivial things that 13 year old boys talk about, but something wasn't right. We never talked again.  Now 15 years later I was reading these words about a person who was once a close friend of mine. "What a f***ing coward." or "I can't believe someone could be that selfish....

This morning my family slept in pretty late. We have all been feeling under the weather for a week or so, and my wife and daughter especially have been feeling sick. The girls decided to stay home, and I was planning on staying home as well. Then at about 10:45am I suddenly had this urge to attend a Catholic Mass service. I have never in my life attended a liturgical service before. I have never been to a Catholic service before. There is a Catholic Church located about 3 minutes from our house, and the service started at 11:00am, so I decided to drive down and check it out. As a music leader at my church, I occasionally go to other church services to try and learn ways to improve our church service. This morning was one of the most valuable learning experiences I have had so far. This is essentially my experience at my first mass. I walked in the door and noticed a sign that read "No gum chewing, and no water. Thanks for the respect!" This is certainly different than...

These are some lyrics that I have been working with off and on for a year or so now. The music is written, and I would like to finish it in the near future.  message from a bed the sheets are getting cold washed and separated, placed into a fold memory is getting dim fading thoughts, wrestle you back to him but yours is a story of hope beyond the hurting soul good mourning man i've seen darkness, in the absence of breath and lonely lovers silence i've heard mourning, when a son is gone i've rarely... felt... you... (and the scoffers are cutting lines and holding time just to pass me by. and i'm waiting to see who will win the fight and i'm waiting to see who gets drunk tonight and when morning comes i remind myself, grace is sold at a price) which one has saving faith? which one is saving face? and what does one do, when the world's soul runs dry? but this is the season of the rising tide... (man) the courtroo...

Everybody goes through times of discouragement. As a whole, part of the human predicament is feeling insecure about our choices in life. Did I take the right job? Did I buy a house to soon, or too late? Should I start a family? We have the unfortunate task of living in the present, and even the wisest of us can make choices that lead us into places we really don't want to be in. Maybe right now, you are feeling discouraged about where you are in your life. I know that I personally am. I have a wonderful family, a beautiful daughter, and an amazing wife. But over the past few years, I have felt the burden of trying to pursue personal goals, and coming up short with the resources to do so.   All in all, I am an unskilled, uneducated, almost thirty year old man, who feels like he has no idea what he is doing in life. The more I talk to people, the more I realize I am not alone. As we grow older, life becomes more complicated. I have a family that relies on me. I am simply ...

I came across a very brief but excellent video from Dr. Kreeft on the sexual revolution. I have been trying to write on this topic for a while, and Dr. Kreeft says what needs to be said so well, I thought I would simply share his lecture. For certain topics, I find myself time and time again, going to catholic resources for information. I think there is a huge void in teaching on this subject, at least in my church experiences, regarding human sexuality. I think it is time the Church, mainly the non-Catholic Church, stopped being ashamed of the truth that we are created in the image of God. We have kept the implications of that truth quiet, while a revolution that in the end, dehumanizes the entire sexual experiences has become so out of control, that I fear our entire Western Civilization may be in jeopardy. I am not trying to use hyperbole, but as I consider my own heart, and the sexual baggage that my generation is carrying, I know this is a message that desperately needs to be at...

I need to cherish this moment. Have you ever been in a relationship that took a terrible turn? Have you ever been walked out on? Do you remember that feeling, after the messy break up, after the fights, after the name calling - that moment of clarity when you realized life will be much better off?  Have you ever had a terrible employee, someone who you aren't really sure how to deal with, quit their job? Do you remember the heavy burden that was lifted from you? Do you remember how you wanted to just tell them, "you can't quit, you're fired!" Well guess what Ontarians, we were in a bad relationship with a bad premiere for far too long. We have had a dishonest employee working under us for years now.  Sometimes I think we forget, that politicians are employed by the people, for the people. That prestigious title of "Premiere", "Mayor", or "Prime Minister" is nothing more than a reminder, that they are to represent the...