Yesterday I ranted a bit about how desire for more ‘stuff’ seems to be the driving force behind the current news cycle as well as virtually all advertising across all media platforms.
It is disheartening.
We place such a premium on our comfort and status that we have lost sight of our obligations in human society.
Yeah, I said Obligations.
That whole concept is foreign to our Western mind.
I remember my Dad telling me one morning as we drove to work together that I needed to make sure and watch out for “Number ONE” because no one else will.
Number ONE in that context was Self.
That one phrase is damning on different levels.
First, it raises ME to the pinnacle of of importance.
“Look at me! I’m the most biggest, importantest Person EVER!”
(Loud applause!!!)
This, alone, creates a problem when Everyone considers themselves Number One.
I mean, the last time I checked there could only be 1 Number One.
While that idea must lead to conflict, there is another part of what Dad said that may be even more damning.
I must look out for my own interests Because NO. ONE. ELSE. WILL.
Really?
Has our society really come to the point where we can count on no one to have our backs?
If you listen to the news and advertisers the answer must be a resounding YES!
The whole world revolves around what I want and to hell with whatever you want.
Did anyone see images of Black Friday shopping?
By definition, an idol is “an object or picture that is worshiped as god.”
In the case that my Dad made, then Number One is an idol.
I am the focus of time, talent, attention, and adulation.
Then, of course, there’s the other idol that comes along with that.
(I bet you didn’t no that we were polytheistic, did you?)
That idol is a picture of a little, green guy named George.
During the 1992 presidential campaign one of the candidates, in attempting to illuminate the most pressing issue on Everyone’s mind coined the phrase, “The Economy, Stupid”!
For the last three decades our culture has taken that to heart and created a god of the economy. A god that needs to be fed with our lust and greed. This god has an insatiable appetite.
This god destroys everything that tries to stand against it.
But, there is Another.
This Other is humble and meek.
He considers the needs of others before His own.
Make no mistake, He is also quite powerful.
He can stand against the idols of Self and George.
During this Advent season, why don’t we stop and listen to that Other.
Let the sound of our heart beating for someone other than Number One drown out the noise and clamor and the demands of those other false gods. For, false they are.
I don’t know.
Just a thought.