The Prophet To Suburbia
The local synagogue has a question on their sign out front asking, "What are the 10 Plagues of Today?" I'm assuming they're wanting that answer for our little suburban neck of the woods--in other words, unique to the environment of the people driving by that very sign. That's how I took it, anyway.
Well, I've been thinking about that...and maybe it's born out of the reality that I'm teaching a class on the Minor Prophets at church...but I'll play the prophet to suburbia today--much like Amos and Hosea and Micah. So here's my response to the sign, in no particular order:
*putting on my camel's hair clothes and wild hair and eating locusts and wild honey, screaming in the wilderness, drawing a crowd of the curious and seeking--generally behaving like a lunatic*
The Plague of Materialism. We nod politely when we say that "things don't make us happy," but I'm not sure we live that way. I know I don't.
The Plague of Homogeneity. In everything from architecture to car purchases and everything in-between, sameness is highly valued. Sure, people will mouth the words "be different" but when you challenge preconceptions or step off the beaten path, eyebrows will raise and they'll sincerely want you back in lock-step with the rest of the penguins.
The Plague of Academia. Somehow or another, academic success is tied to system manipulation rather than actual learning and free-thinking. Just learn it for the test and get the "A" and finish in the top-10 of your class because we really believe that this kind of thing is a panacea when we're actually just taking a placebo.
The Plague of Polarization. Honest discourse is no longer valued. Make your mind up on an issue, usually by parroting the views of a radio talk show host or cable "news" anchor you already agree with, and then demonize those on the other side of the issue at-hand. The street runs both ways, but to honestly have conversation on any meaningful topic doesn't happen much. It's more of an attempt to evangelize.
The Plague of Pre-Maturity. Apparently, parents think that they're helping their children by treating every single event before high school as if it's something to master and to do it in pursuit of a college scholarship. Doesn't matter what it is, but make sure that it'll look good on your resume and ensure that you excel at it. Could be drama. Could be band. Could be school. Could be athletics. Could be yearbook/newspaper. Do whatever it is with the end in mind, rather than just doing it for fun. Never mind that if we invested the money we spend on private lessons or special training we could've given you a scholarship.
The Plague of Busy-ness. We live at warp-speed and brag about it. It's the new status thing. Everyone has a gadget that's supposed to make them more productive with the time they have and we make choices that starve our souls. They're not using the time saved with those gadgets or service payments (think paying someone to do your yard or wash your car) to rest or have down-time, they're using their extra time to do work in the recliner at home or shuttle off to the weekend tournament.
The Plague of a Service Economy. We live in a service economy in which specialists handle all the tasks. So, for example, we choose a health club that has child-care instead of switching off with our spouse. We drop our kids off at the youth group and leave them to handle the task. We sacrifice personal Bible study on our own because specialists teach us what we should know. We go to bookstores to get self-help stuff that is all written from a position of strength and makes you feel inferior for not measuring up. We let radio hosts or comedians do our thinking for us. We inundate conferences or seminars we believe will educate us. We like going to IKEA because they provide a kids' play area while we shop. It's all about convenience and serving my wants/desires, and this filters into more area of our lives than we realize.
The Plague of the Child-Icon. We make icons of our children, as if they're the first children to grace the planet. Parents say that they're teenager is their best friend, failing to realize the sadness of that very statement. We bumper-sticker and window-sticker our children's involvements. We fight their battles for them in everything from playing time to homework grading. We let our children define us, rather than understanding who we are and what we're about and letting them figure out who they are and what they're about. The parenting task should be giving them a road map and shining a light down the path, not hacking away the weeds and vines and doing the dirty work for them.
The Plague of Cacooning. We lose the value of life in community. We have six-foot privacy fences rather than picket or chain-link. We pull into our garages or alleyways and never see our neighbors. We don't have front porches (unless you count a bunch of parents with chairs from Target sitting/watching soccer practice a the field) to visit with our neighbors after work. Our kids don't play outside or ride bikes (where would they ride them to, anyway?) so we don't know the people in our neighborhood. We paint a Normal Rockwell picture of our lives to others and avoid transparency and heartache...fighting these burdens on our own rather than allowing others to share our joys/pains/families. We get in our cacoon and we stay there because it's safer there, but we miss the joys of flight and the beauty of the end result.
The Plague of Over-Entertainment. It's hard work to think. And, yes, we all need some time to decompress and do something mindless. That might be Soduku or silly movies or goofy television shows or whatever. I'm cool with that. It's just that we can't stand to deal with atrocities around the world or the injustice or poverty or wars or whatever...so our newscasts start out with a fire downtown and then tell us about what Britney or Angelina are up to. There's time for us to play and decompress and rest, but there's also ample time to educate yourself on injustice and activism and weep or celebrate rather than living vicariously through celebrity.
I thought the question was very provocative...
...and, yes, I'm actually a very happy person today. So, don't comment that I'm a bitter and angry human...it's just that the question was asking about PLAGUES--those things that by definition can't be pleasant. I mean, who's happy about frogs or locusts or rivers turning to blood and boils and such? So, don't worry about me, kids.
I'm just mixing it up today and stirring the pot here in The Diner.
So, let the discussion begin!
The local synagogue has a question on their sign out front asking, "What are the 10 Plagues of Today?" I'm assuming they're wanting that answer for our little suburban neck of the woods--in other words, unique to the environment of the people driving by that very sign. That's how I took it, anyway.
Well, I've been thinking about that...and maybe it's born out of the reality that I'm teaching a class on the Minor Prophets at church...but I'll play the prophet to suburbia today--much like Amos and Hosea and Micah. So here's my response to the sign, in no particular order:
*putting on my camel's hair clothes and wild hair and eating locusts and wild honey, screaming in the wilderness, drawing a crowd of the curious and seeking--generally behaving like a lunatic*
The Plague of Materialism. We nod politely when we say that "things don't make us happy," but I'm not sure we live that way. I know I don't.
The Plague of Homogeneity. In everything from architecture to car purchases and everything in-between, sameness is highly valued. Sure, people will mouth the words "be different" but when you challenge preconceptions or step off the beaten path, eyebrows will raise and they'll sincerely want you back in lock-step with the rest of the penguins.
The Plague of Academia. Somehow or another, academic success is tied to system manipulation rather than actual learning and free-thinking. Just learn it for the test and get the "A" and finish in the top-10 of your class because we really believe that this kind of thing is a panacea when we're actually just taking a placebo.
The Plague of Polarization. Honest discourse is no longer valued. Make your mind up on an issue, usually by parroting the views of a radio talk show host or cable "news" anchor you already agree with, and then demonize those on the other side of the issue at-hand. The street runs both ways, but to honestly have conversation on any meaningful topic doesn't happen much. It's more of an attempt to evangelize.
The Plague of Pre-Maturity. Apparently, parents think that they're helping their children by treating every single event before high school as if it's something to master and to do it in pursuit of a college scholarship. Doesn't matter what it is, but make sure that it'll look good on your resume and ensure that you excel at it. Could be drama. Could be band. Could be school. Could be athletics. Could be yearbook/newspaper. Do whatever it is with the end in mind, rather than just doing it for fun. Never mind that if we invested the money we spend on private lessons or special training we could've given you a scholarship.
The Plague of Busy-ness. We live at warp-speed and brag about it. It's the new status thing. Everyone has a gadget that's supposed to make them more productive with the time they have and we make choices that starve our souls. They're not using the time saved with those gadgets or service payments (think paying someone to do your yard or wash your car) to rest or have down-time, they're using their extra time to do work in the recliner at home or shuttle off to the weekend tournament.
The Plague of a Service Economy. We live in a service economy in which specialists handle all the tasks. So, for example, we choose a health club that has child-care instead of switching off with our spouse. We drop our kids off at the youth group and leave them to handle the task. We sacrifice personal Bible study on our own because specialists teach us what we should know. We go to bookstores to get self-help stuff that is all written from a position of strength and makes you feel inferior for not measuring up. We let radio hosts or comedians do our thinking for us. We inundate conferences or seminars we believe will educate us. We like going to IKEA because they provide a kids' play area while we shop. It's all about convenience and serving my wants/desires, and this filters into more area of our lives than we realize.
The Plague of the Child-Icon. We make icons of our children, as if they're the first children to grace the planet. Parents say that they're teenager is their best friend, failing to realize the sadness of that very statement. We bumper-sticker and window-sticker our children's involvements. We fight their battles for them in everything from playing time to homework grading. We let our children define us, rather than understanding who we are and what we're about and letting them figure out who they are and what they're about. The parenting task should be giving them a road map and shining a light down the path, not hacking away the weeds and vines and doing the dirty work for them.
The Plague of Cacooning. We lose the value of life in community. We have six-foot privacy fences rather than picket or chain-link. We pull into our garages or alleyways and never see our neighbors. We don't have front porches (unless you count a bunch of parents with chairs from Target sitting/watching soccer practice a the field) to visit with our neighbors after work. Our kids don't play outside or ride bikes (where would they ride them to, anyway?) so we don't know the people in our neighborhood. We paint a Normal Rockwell picture of our lives to others and avoid transparency and heartache...fighting these burdens on our own rather than allowing others to share our joys/pains/families. We get in our cacoon and we stay there because it's safer there, but we miss the joys of flight and the beauty of the end result.
The Plague of Over-Entertainment. It's hard work to think. And, yes, we all need some time to decompress and do something mindless. That might be Soduku or silly movies or goofy television shows or whatever. I'm cool with that. It's just that we can't stand to deal with atrocities around the world or the injustice or poverty or wars or whatever...so our newscasts start out with a fire downtown and then tell us about what Britney or Angelina are up to. There's time for us to play and decompress and rest, but there's also ample time to educate yourself on injustice and activism and weep or celebrate rather than living vicariously through celebrity.
I thought the question was very provocative...
...and, yes, I'm actually a very happy person today. So, don't comment that I'm a bitter and angry human...it's just that the question was asking about PLAGUES--those things that by definition can't be pleasant. I mean, who's happy about frogs or locusts or rivers turning to blood and boils and such? So, don't worry about me, kids.
I'm just mixing it up today and stirring the pot here in The Diner.
So, let the discussion begin!
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