How Do People Act During a Pandemic?

Her shopping cart was filled to overflowing as she eyed the shelves down the aisle of the Harris-Teeter.  The store itself was jammed with anxious customers responding to the first warnings that a pandemic was possibly in the early stages of spreading.  Already the packages of toilet paper had been wiped out and harried shoppers were deliberating wildly on what supplies they would need for the long haul.  Her gaze fell on the microwave popcorn and, as if her family’s survival depended on a three month supply, she swept all the boxes on the shelf into her burgeoning cart and made her satisfied way to the checkout line.

Have people gone nuts?  When the weather forecasts snow, sleet, or ice, the rule is you stock up on bread and milk - a well-documented fact.  Apparently when there is a threat of pandemic, the necessities are popcorn and toilet paper.  Who woulda thunk it?  

If there ever was any doubt that human beings are not rational, the current health crisis proves the point.  People are reacting emotionally with little attention to reason.  The media, health professionals, and government officials keeps alerting the public to pay attention to facts, not fear, but facts no longer seem to matter in the 21st Century.  Maybe it has always been true, that what we feel in our gut always overrules what we think in our head.

Truly, the present crisis has no precedent in recent history.  There are lessons to be drawn, however, from the deadliest pandemic in history - the influenza outbreak of 1918.  John Barry, a historian writing in the New York Times, describes how containment of the virus has already failed, as it did in 1918.  The challenge now is to comply with best practices - measures taken to suppress the spread.  Barry points to the failure of compliance as a leading cause for the number of deaths in 1918.  History teaches us that people are often quick to comply with best practices at the beginning of an outbreak, but that compliance diminishes quickly.  Washing hands, wearing masks, keeping our distance, are not practices for the short-term, but will be necessary for months if we are to be successful in halting the spread of the coronavirus.  There are pandemic deniers who will, of course, resist the call to comply with best practices.  We can only appeal to their desire for the public good assuming they can see past their selfishness.

Another lesson from 1918 provides us a different challenge.  How will we care for one another?  As a Christian, this question takes on great importance for me.  In 1918 there were numerous cases of people, self-quarantined, who starved to death because of the failure of society to care for one another.  David Brooks, conservative columnist, describes the societal shame that resulted  from that lack of caring following the pandemic a century ago.  How may we avoid that shame in this new crisis?

I can understand the desire of someone, like our Harris-Teeter shopper above, to do whatever they can imagine to protect and provide for her family.  However, how may we expand on that urge to care so that we reach out to the wider community?  I have a friend who reminded me years ago that until we care for children (and people) beyond our own flesh and blood we will continue to fall short of the kingdom ideals that Jesus proclaimed.  When the disciples wanted assurance that they were included in the flock of Jesus’ care, he reminded them that he had “other sheep” to gather into his fold (John 10:16).  

So, I would add one additional best practice - caring for one another.  This will be a challenge during dystopian times, of course.  After all, how does one practice social distancing while caring for each other?  But just because the practice may be difficult does not mean it is impossible.  In every community there will be opportunities to show care - 

for the poor

for health care workers

for those who provide essential services

for grocery store employees

for the elderly, living alone

We must not allow social distancing to lead to social alienation and neglect.  I would encourage everyone in every community to reach out to social service agencies to discover ways in which care for others might be expressed.  Or, call an older adult to make sure they’re okay.  Call a single mother to see if she needs groceries.  Love thy neighbor.  As Jesus also said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. . .” (John 13:35)  These are going to be difficult days.  May they be days we are able to remember without shame.   

Rabbits, Pens and Grace

You’ve heard the phrase, “multiplying like rabbits,” which attests to the prolific way in which rabbits reproduce their own kind.  I have noticed the same thing with ball point pens.  There is no shortage around my house.  While there never seems to be one at hand when I need to make a note, I need look no further than the desk in the den, the kitchen counter, or table, to find half-a-dozen pens of various species.  There are promotional pens from businesses, churches, and schools.  There are pens of different girths, lengths and colors.  There are cheap pens that don’t write so well, and fancy wooden pens, skillfully turned on someone’s lathe.  We have enough, indeed, seventy times seven more than enough, pens to last us our lifetime of use.

And so it is with grace.  Grace is a concept that is often difficult to grasp.  People say grace at meal times.  Dancers show astonishing grace as they twirl and dip.  Some women are named Grace.  British royalty are often addressed as "Your grace."  But grace, as a religious term, means more than that.  Grace means love given without strings attached – love without conditions.  This is the way God loves.

At least that’s what the apostle Paul says in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “love does not insist on its own way.”  At least that’s the way Jesus seemed to love everyone he encountered.  Even as he hung on the cross he is reported to have said, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”  To the very end of his life Jesus loved the world unconditionally. 

Grace is a word that Christians use to describe that kind of unconditional love.  That means there is enough, and even more than enough, love in the heart of God to love everyone, even those we find difficult to love, who seem mean, unloveable, even wicked.  Like the pens that multiply in my house, there seems no end to the love of God.  And like the diversity of pens that proliferate under my very nose, God meets each one of us as we are, where we are, with exactly the grace we need. 

There is a pen of grace which has your name on it.  But you have to pick it up in order to write your story.  I can’t wait to see how your life in grace turns out.        

It's Good Work If You Can Get It

“Living on the surface and in the present bereft of strong echoes of the past, we are (occasionally) happy, but rarely truly joyous.” --- Miroslav Volf

Everybody wants to be happy.  We live in a country where the pursuit of happiness is written into our DNA – the pursuit, but not necessarily the attainment.

I want to be happy.  I want my wife to be happy, and my children.  Why, I want everyone to be happy.  If only there were a formula we could follow, or an elixir we could drink, or . . . wait a minute . . . Every book store has a section of shelves filled with books that promise just such a formula for happiness.  Countless substances we ingest or drink, we do so in hopes of a buzz of happiness.  But if there was a formula or substance that worked, don’t you suppose we would have found it by now?

Might I suggest a different pursuit?  Instead of seeking after what makes you happy, which at most is a fleeting experience, why not pursue something else?  Like love.  Like service to others.  It is simple really.

As an experiment, spend a day seeking, not your own satisfaction, but the satisfaction of your spouse.  Spend a week affirming the work of your colleagues rather than tooting your own horn.  Spend a Saturday doing what your children want to do instead of hauling them around with your own agenda.  Instead of watching tired reruns at the end of the day, write some notecards of appreciation to your elderly relatives. 

All of these suggestions are not about the pursuit of happiness, at least not for yourself.  But don’t be surprised if you find something better as a result – joy.

The quote above by Miroslav Volf, suggests that happiness is superficial, but that joy is deep - built through the richness of experience.  Our circumstances can change in the blink of an eye, but if there is depth to our lives, relationships that have lasted through years and decades, then joy might be possible no matter what our circumstances.  I believe in living fully in the present moment, but this moment is enriched by my past experiences, particularly through the relationships I have had.  And the anticipation of those relationships continuing into the future are an additional blessing that can sustain and encourage joy, no matter what my outward circumstances might be.

Better than happiness, I wish you joy.  And joy comes from nurturing relationships that last through time.  This is nothing new.  There is no secret formula, nor elixir. 

Huey Lewis and The News sang, 

“I want a new drug . . . one that makes me feel like I feel when I’m with you.”  

You see?  Relationship.  That’s what matters, and that’s what leads to joy.

Relationships take work, I know, but as David Wilcox says, “It’s good work, if you can get it.”

Unconditional

          What sets Jesus apart from the rest of humanity was his capacity to love unconditionally.  This is (along with some additional points), indeed, why we Christians say he was the Son of God.  Jesus loved in a way the rest of us only occasionally do, thus there was something fundamentally different about him --- he was Other than we are. 

He had compassion for the crowds.  He showed kindness to the prostitute.  He offered hospitality to the tax collector as well as the poor.  He showed no favoritism among those of different social strata.  He loved all equally, and fully, with no conditions, no strings attached.  Even as he was crucified he loved them all – loved us all – pronouncing no curses on his persecutors.

          One caveat here:  Jesus did reserve some choice words of judgment for folks who were self-righteously religious.  The 23^rd Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel offers us a stark picture of Jesus as one who could not condone the hypocrisy of the overly-religious Pharisees of his own day.  He was appalled at the way they made their religion not a joy but a burden on the people.  I suspect Jesus was upset because these semi-professional religious folks were implying that God’s love was conditional.  One telling quote is verse 15, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

          My colleague, Rich Irwin, once said to me that he keeps that verse handy as a reminder that his ministry to people is not to trip them up in have-to’s, ought-to’s, and musts, but to release them for joyful living. 

          As a pastor I must remind myself daily to love people for who they are, not for what they can do for me, or even for what they can do for the church.  That we are loved unconditionally, as Jesus loved, is at the heart of the Christian message, and to love in that way is the essence of Christian discipleship.  Everything else is just decoration.

          Obedience to certain principles of morality and ethics is helpful, of course, but I believe we find our true, authentic selves, not by following principles (no matter how high-sounding), but by responding to being loved unconditionally. 

          Theologian Douglas Adams likens it to his experience of his grandparents.  Parents expect their children to toe the line, to follow the rules, which is all well and good.  But when children fail to measure up, as happens to all of us, grandparents will take them in their arms and love them in spite of their shortcomings.  And when any of us are loved in this way it sets us free to be our best selves.  When we believe there is nothing we can do that will prevent us from being loved, then we are liberated to attempt living at its best, and fullest. 

          God loves, unconditionally, every one of us.  That is the message that Jesus incarnates.  There is nothing we can do to make God love us more than God already does, AND there is nothing we can do to make God love us any less.  Go, therefore, and live . . . and love.  That’s why God made you.  This is the way Jesus saves you.       

Belief: It's Not What You Know

          Early Christianity was not without its controversies and divisions, no less than today.  The apostle Paul’s writings to the Corinthians make this clear.  The disagreements continued into the centuries to come.  One early school of Christian thought came to be known as the “gnostics.”  Among their teachings was the notion that only a select few had access to the necessary knowledge, or “gnosis,” that would gain them salvation or escape from this physical world.

          In time, the gnostics were considered a sect that did not represent the core of Christian teaching, or “orthodoxy.”  However, there are remnants of Gnosticism that linger on.  One of the values of learning the disputes in ancient church history is the way those same issues arise among the people of God even today.  What’s new is old.

          There is a version of Christianity that suggests that you have to believe in certain precepts in order to attain salvation.  They may be the four spiritual laws, or twelve abiding principles, or seven habits, etc., but what they have in common is a presumption that agreement with these precepts leads to salvation.  Salvation becomes a head game, a matter of what you know, or what you think.  And if you don’t think like I do, or know what I know, then you are lost.

          Those last few sentences should sound familiar because they describe the practice of many contemporary Christians; and it is a modern manifestation of Gnosticism.  Almost every church has a few gnostics.  And some of them can be rather virulent. 

          There are passages in the New Testament of the Bible that seem to lean in a gnostic direction, as Paul’s words to the church at Colossae:  “I became [the church’s] servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints (Colossians 1:25).”   However, in context, the mystery that Paul is revealing is never intended for a select few but for all the world.  Paul is constantly crossing both geographical and socio-ethnic boundaries to reveal this mystery to all.  And the “mystery” is not so much a body of knowledge as it is a witness to the living presence of Christ available to every believer.

          Belief, then, is not about WHAT you know, but WHO you know.  Or rather, the assurance that you are KNOWN by a God who loves you enough to be with you in your darkest hour, even in the midst of suffering and death.  The essence of Christian belief is not a body of knowledge that sets you apart from everyone else, but the revelation that God loves the world so much that God enters into the worst aspects of the human condition in order to redeem, reconcile, and make new.

          The problem with modern versions of Gnosticism is that they still make salvation into something that believer has to do (or think).  But in orthodox Christianity, the source of salvation is always in what God has already done.  So, salvation is not about thinking the right thoughts, or even believing the right things.  Salvation is about trusting the love God has for us.  The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church, " if I understand all mysteries and all knowledge . . . but do not have love, I am nothing (1 Cor. 13:2)."

          I am reminded of the words spoken by priest, Blackie Ryan, in a novel by Andrew Greeley.  Father Ryan says that he doesn’t believe everything the church teaches but what he does believe in, he does so with all his heart.  I invite you not so much to agree with every doctrine of the church (though don’t be so hasty to dismiss it all), but to trust with all your heart the love that God has for all humanity, and thus, for you.  It’s not what you know, it’s Who knows you.

           

Believing in Love

            Recently there was a ruckus in Charlotte, NC, where the Democratic National Convention is being held.  A national organization of atheists had posted two billboards, which were a slam against Christianity and Mormonism, as a slap in the face of both candidates for President.  I’ll quote only the attack on Christianity that read, “Sadistic God, Useless Savior, 30,000+ versions of ‘Truth,’ Promotes Hate, calls it ‘Love.’” (Their quotation marks let us know they aren’t buying what Christians are selling.)

            The purpose of the billboards was actually a slam against religious belief of any kind, inviting readers to put aside faith in anything.  “Join American Atheists!” it proclaimed.  Of course, as I wrote in my previous article, everyone believes in something so even atheists are expecting people to have “faith.” (I can play with quotation marks, too.)  But what they expect us to have faith in is easily as subjective as any religious belief. 

            A second point I would make is that both billboards are a caricature of religious belief.  They take some distortion of basic Christianity and present it as representative of the faith as a whole.  “Promotes Hate, calls it ‘Love,’” for instance.  Unfortunately, the atheists have taken down their billboard because of threats of violence they have received, thus, they feel they have proved their point.  But I do not concede.  (See my post on Who Speaks for Jesus?)

             There are a minority of renegade “Christians” (note the quotation marks) out there who have so distorted the teachings of Jesus that their actions represent more hate than love.  However, they are a minority who get a lot of media attention, out of proportion to their numbers.  Let’s call them the 1%. I dare say that the billboards may have upset my entire congregation, but none would have threatened anyone as a result; the point being that most Christians truly do seek to have their actions guided by love, as seemingly impossible as this might be to atheist imaginations.

            As opposed to the caricature of Christian belief proclaimed by the billboards, most Christians believe in a God of mercy.  We believe that all of humanity needs help, and thus a Savior is necessary.  We do not have 30,000+ versions of truth.  In fact, most churches of varying stripes have amazing unanimity in belief.  The differences between Christian groups have more to do with what we tend to emphasize rather than disagreement over basic belief.  And we do not promote hate.  We may not love as we ought, but we believe in a Savior who does, and I dare say the 99 % are trying to love in the same way.

            Christians deserve plenty of criticism since we fall short of loving in the way we say we believe.  G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and untried.”  In spite of how Christians have fallen short, to love in a self-sacrificial way as Jesus did still seems like something worth believing in.  And it certainly offers me more hope for the human community than anything the atheists are offering.  What do you believe in?            

Who Speaks for Jesus?

I am sorry to have to write this but there are times I feel embarrassed, maybe even ashamed, by what some Christians say and do.  There are those who claim the name of Jesus and then spew the vilest words of hatred and prejudice imaginable.  I am appalled.  And I apologize to those who have been wounded by these so-called Christians.

In my more than twenty-five years of ministry I have made it a point to not criticize my brothers and sisters of other denominations.  One of the worst things we can do to damage our witness to the world around us is to have a squabble among ourselves. But when I sense that Jesus is being dishonored by these voices I cannot remain silent.  I am reminded of Jesus’ own words to those early disciples, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

There is a rising spirit of inquisition among some Christians.  There are those who have appointed themselves as the arbiters of truth, morality and proper doctrine and woe be unto any who stray from their definition of the right path.  I am afraid those of us who allow for some ambiguity in thinking, and who interpret truth with a large measure of grace, have been silent for too long, for fear that these inquisitors will make us their targets.  And for too long these distortions of Christian faith have been in the public spotlight, leading the media to make of us a caricature of the real thing.

The real thing is Jesus, of course, who lived a life of sympathy for the suffering, a life of mercy for the sinner, a life of simplicity regarding possessions, a life lived compassionately toward those on the margins, a life suspicious of power, and made perfect in weakness, a life of sacrifice for others.  A life summed up in his commandment to his disciples, “Love one another, as I have loved you, so you are to love one another.”  A love that was demonstrated in his submissive act of washing his disciples’ feet. 

If the voice you hear speaking on behalf of Christians does not sound like the Christ described in the preceding paragraph, then you can be sure the voice is that of a false prophet, and does not represent the Jesus to whom the Bible testifies.  However, if the voice speaking on behalf of Christians sounds like love, and even better, if the voice is backed up with actions of mercy, then you can be confident that Jesus is being represented in that witness.  Again the words of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

   

Love Is the Cure

Elton John has recently written a book entitled, Love Is the Cure.  He wrote the book to raise money for a foundation that is funding HIV/AIDS research.  But Sir Elton, who has been knighted by the Queen of England, does not place his hope for a cure in medical breakthroughs so much as in changed hearts. 

          “Love is the cure,” could be a slogan to address many other ills in our world; a sentiment that has appeared in many other expressions –

·        What the world needs now is love, sweet love.

·        All you need is love.

·        If there’s ever an answer, it’s more love.

·        Love will find a way.

And there is much in Christian scripture that resonates with and supports these ideals –

·        “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

·        “As I have loved you, so you should love one another.”

·        “God is love.”

So, with all this hope in the power of love, why do we have such a hard time actually loving one another?  If we really believe it, why don’t we do it?

          The simple answer is that we are all sinners who fall short of the mark.  For those of you for whom the concept of sin seems backward and unenlightened I challenge you to find another explanation for why even the best of us still can practice a little deception with our spouses, envy of our neighbors, prejudice against our co-workers, etc.  Most of us are not lacking in education or proper moral training.  Most of us know better than to do some of the things we do.  But we still do them.

          And then there are the things we don’t do which we ought to, or could, do – what Christian tradition calls, “sins of omission.”  The list here would be even longer. The way we turn a blind eye to the needs around us is a testimony to the pervasiveness of sins of omission.

          Why don’t we love one another?  Because we are sinners.

          But Christian teaching tells us that God loves us anyway, willing to die in order to demonstrate how much.  This is what we call gospel – good news.  We are sinners, but God loves us anyway, and God’s hope in the gospel is that if we grasp this divine love and it becomes a part of our wills, or as scripture puts it, a part of our “heart, soul, mind and strength,” then perhaps we will learn to love the way God loves.  Wouldn’t that be something?

          I find that most of us need constant exposure to the message of the gospel in order for it to sink in.  Oh, there are those who seem to be changed into radical lovers seemingly overnight.  But most of us need to hear the gospel over and over again.  We are stubborn.  Scripture says we are “stiff-necked.”  Scripture also says we are being changed from one degree of glory into another.  Being changed by degrees takes time, and constant attention to the basics.

          Wade Page, the extremist white power musician who recently killed several people at worship at a Sikh temple, did not overnight become an ideologue willing to kill others.  The change in him happened by degrees, with constant exposure to the politics of hatred.  If we are to overcome such evil in the world it will require the same persistence, but with a different message, of love being shared intentionally, daily, unceasingly.

          Maybe we should write it one hundred times on the blackboard.  Love is the cure.  Love is the cure.  Love is the cure . . . . . . . . . .

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

I couldn’t help it.  While she was still walking across the parking lot, before she had said a word, I was sizing her up.  The way she was dressed, the cut of her hair, the proportions of her figure – too fat, too thin – all these were measures running through my critical faculties.  And then there was the handshake (too firm, too limp), and the sound of her voice (refined or unpolished) that went into the mix of my judgments upon another human being.  None of this was deliberate.  It simply was.

I don’t think I’m that unusual in this regard.  Our tendency to judge one another comes with the territory of being human.  I believe in sin.  I’m agin’ it, as the old preacher used to say, but I am inevitably tied up in it.  If sin is a novel concept to you, or if you think it is a hopelessly outdated idea, then I suggest you have not been paying attention.  All I need to do is see the political news for the day, not to mention all the other news of a sordid nature, to remind me that sin is rampant among us.

 

I am fortunate, though.  I had parents who taught me better.  My parents, too, believed in sin and our need to fight it with every fiber of our being, and to surrender our wills to God in order that we might avail ourselves of divine assistance to overcome sin and recover the image of God in ourselves, AND, to restore the vision to see that image in someone else.

So, from a very young age I was instructed to curb my judgmental tendencies and to train my eyes to see others through the eyes of God.  I was raised to not distrust people who looked or thought differently from me, but to distrust prejudice itself.  I was raised to not measure people by external circumstances but to give people the benefit of the doubt.  In short, I was raised with what we often call The Golden Rule, as I paraphrase it, “treat others the way you want to be treated.” 

Jesus had many things to say about judgment, most of which were warnings that judgment belongs to God, for instance, Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

As Fathers’ Day arrives this Sunday, I am giving thanks for my Father and Mother who both taught me to measure people with the same grace that I trust God measures me.  I still have to fight my instinct to judge others by the most superficial of standards (sin lies ever ready to rear its ugly head).  But God has worked me over a good bit in my life, helping me to attend more faithfully to the divine image of the person in front of me.  And there’s always the voice of my parents saying, “until you’ve walked a mile in someone else’s shoes . . .”   

  

Why Jesus?

Why Jesus? 

Because he came that we might have “life to the full” (John 10:10).

Because he took time to honor children, “unless you become as a child you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Because he refused to condemn those we think are dishonorable, “let the one who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7).

Because he had compassion for people, “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

Because he could see the greatness that lived in small things, “it is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:31-32).

Because he proclaimed good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovering of sight for the blind, and liberty for the oppressed (Luke 4:18).

Because he ushered in a kingdom of justice and equity, “he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree” (Luke 1:52).

Because he offered forgiveness infinitely, “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22).

Because he demanded everything, “take up your cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

Because he gave everything he demanded, “’it is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

I could go on, but I encourage you to make your own list.  I mean no disrespect to other religious traditions.  Nor do I deny the grievous errors and flaws of the historic church and so-called Christian voices out there today who make me weep with their distortions of Jesus’ message.  But still, I believe that Jesus remains the last, best hope for humankind.  If we’ll just listen, take up our cross daily, and follow him.

Why Do We Care about Charlie Sheen?

A friend came back from New Zealand recently, sobered by the proximity of the earthquake that shook Christchurch only a few days after visiting there. Even more disconcerting was the fact that upon returning to the U.S., the news of the earthquake and its aftermath had been relegated to the fringes of journalistic reporting, overshadowed by the ravings of actor Charlie Sheen.

We now surmise, based on a parade of experts, that Charlie Sheen is not simply another self-absorbed Hollywood star, but must be suffering from some kind of mental illness characterized by manic episodes. The greater question for me is, “Why do we care about Charlie Sheen?

Maybe we have become inured to the news of earthquakes and human suffering. As we see devastation in Haiti or New Zealand, and we hear about hundreds of deaths, we eventually become numb to the particularities of such events. Maybe we lose interest because it doesn’t feel personal.

But Charlie Sheen – there is a face we recognize. This feels personal. Outlandish. Maybe crazy. But personal. And Charlie is famous and rich. Do we secretly enjoy when the stars fall from the sky? “How the mighty have fallen . . . (2 Samuel 1:27).” Perhaps we are making comparisons – “I’m not rich or famous, but at least I’m not crazy!” And in some sad way, Charlie Sheen’s problems make us feel better about ourselves.

I don’t know. I suppose I should care about Charlie Sheen but I don’t. Oh, in some sort of vague way, I want him to be well and I offer this as a prayer, but I am much more concerned with the mental health of people I know to spend too much time thinking about Mr. Sheen, whom I don’t know. Charlie is a part of the cult of personality with which our culture is obsessed, but I would argue that the cult of personality is not the same thing as being personal. We may know his face, but that is a far cry from knowing him personally.

One of my favorite lines from a song is from the eccentric quasi-zydeco band, Donna the Buffalo, “What does all this Hollywood really have to do with us?” For me it is another way of saying, “C’mon people, get a life!”

Where am I going with all this? Well, I’m not sure we can do a whole lot for Charlie Sheen or for the people of New Zealand, but for all the time we spend watching the news about people we’ll never know, we could surely address the needs of people closer by that we do know. I have a friend who, with his wife, decided to get rid of their TV about two years ago. He says they’ve never been happier in their marriage as a result. They have found time to do things together and to care for one another more deeply. Now, that sounds promising.

Paying attention to people we actually know can spill over from our marriage to our family – perhaps spending more time actually playing with our children rather than plugging them into another DVD filled with talking vegetables and dinosaurs. Perhaps with the extra time, we might visit a lonely elderly member of our neighborhood, or tutor a child in the local school. We might even have enough energy (TV makes us lethargic) to hammer nails in a Habitat House or prepare meals at a soup kitchen. After a while we might even forget who Charlie Sheen is, and well, maybe if he didn’t get so much media attention, he might actually have a chance to get better – reclaim a normal life – maybe.

I’ve often pondered the fact that Jesus never wandered beyond the borders of Judah and Galilee (except for a brief sojourn in Egypt as a baby). He didn’t go to Rome. He was rooted in his locale – Nazareth, Galilee, Jerusalem. Did he get news from the greater world? Did he wonder about the lives of the rich and famous in the Mediterranean world? Who knows? We do know he was infinitely interested in each individual he met. He was personal, and seldom distracted by the cult of personality in his own day.

His few references to a famous people seemed to diminish their significance (“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but to God the things that are God’s,” or, regarding King Herod, called him a “fox”). But the people he encountered during his ministry were anything but diminished – the prostitute, the beggar, the blind, the lame, the demon-possessed, the tax collectors, even the Pharisees, I believe, he approached with deep concern for their well-being – body and soul.

If I ruled the world I would unplug most of our electronics and encourage people to spend more time with each other. We could still read the news about the wider world in the Sunday paper, but the most important news would be picked up at the general store, local coffee shop, styling salon, or in Sunday School class. That would be the news about the people we know close by, the people God has given us to love, person-to-person. And I believe someone close by to Charlie Sheen might give him the attention he needs, minus all the cameras in his face. I think that’s the way Jesus would do it.