2-21-22<\/p>\n
I realize the invitation of this blog is to \u201cstart your week with a spiritual song in your heart.\u201d And I further realize that it carries the implication of Uplift; a bright message to commence a positive week.<\/p>\n
When we are inspired to be a latter-day Jeremiah \u2013 that is, reflecting on troubling signs in contemporary life, or addressing the many crises our culture faces \u2013 a realistic<\/em> message is also a useful, even necessary, way to start our days and weeks, even if \u201cdark.\u201d We should not continuously be \u201cDebbie Downers,\u201d but neither should we be spiritual Pollyannas, thinking everything is rosy, or will be cheery when things soon straighten themselves out.<\/p>\n Jeremiah, as I said, was a prophet whose message was dark and threatening to those who needed to hear it: the whole nation that had gone morally wayward. Noah too. Moses too. Jonah too. In fact\u2026 Jesus, too, in many of His sermons.<\/p>\n The sweep of humankind\u2019s history has been marked by the rebellion of individuals, for instance \u201cthose to whom much had been given\u201d and much was expected; these notable figures, too often, squandered their gifts and blessings. No less frequently in the world\u2019s history and Biblical accounts we learn of entire peoples \u2013 tribes, societies, nations \u2013 who strayed.<\/p>\n \u201cStrayed\u201d from what? Generally from the things that had made them great, or successful, or productive \u2013 Forgetting their foundational principles. Betraying their inheritance. Losing sight of what was unique to them. Falling out of love with the ideals they once cherished.<\/p>\n Ancient Rome comes to mind. And so does\u2026 contemporary America.<\/p>\n This critique is not novel \u2013 at least I hope most of you feel the same angst. Recent events brought these thoughts to me. No, not crime nor the drug epidemic nor the runaway economy nor the health scares nor \u201cwars and rumors of war,\u201d despite these news items screaming at us every day.<\/p>\n Sometimes a larger circumstance can be more indicative of our moral crises and spiritual challenges than are passing headlines and statistics. This clarity was apparent when I watched the recent Super Bowl. I don\u2019t mean the game itself \u2013 well, yes, I do. Not the brutish contest with strange new rules and blown calls and gladiator-like ferocity, but the \u201cgame\u201d behind the game. We now have the nation\u2019s favorite sport (we can still include baseball under this umbrella) where drugs and politics play important roles, in the news and in careers of the players. Fans have come to know as much about salaries and pensions as they do about on-the-field stats.<\/p>\n Salaries spiral ever upward, and\u2026 that\u2019s America, right? \u201cGet what you can while you can.\u201d But players increasingly receive contracts worth significant portions of a billion dollars. OK, \u201cif the owners didn\u2019t make it, they couldn\u2019t pay it.\u201d So the owners simply charge more for tickets (multiple thousands of bucks for a seat at the Super Bowl\u2026 when the fans in the stands probably watch the action on Jumbotron screens anyway) and charge more for commercial time. ($6-million per minute?) Advertisers pay so much by charging more and more for their products. All of which means the fan gets socked from every angle. Um, for guys playing football and baseball.<\/p>\n We think of Ancient Rome with its \u201cbread and circuses.\u201d<\/p>\n But more troubling to me was the halftime \u201centertainment,\u201d this year entirely given over to hip hop and rap, which is listened to by only a sliver of the population. An array of performers rolled out their hits, and paid vague homage to Los Angeles, common home to some of the noise and to this year\u2019s Super Bowl. Kendrick Lamar performed \u201cAlright,\u201d famous for its anti-police message\u2026 and by the way, that misspelling was his intention; I realize that many performers and song titles and the genre itself is one big typographical error. The one white star, Eminem, took a knee in evident homage to Kaepernick; and the one major female, Mary K Blige, strutted around the stage in the costume of L.A.\u2019s many street-walkers.<\/p>\n An observer, attempting to understand the lyrics, made a list of words and phrases during the halftime show. The unofficial tally: The \u201cN\u201d word, 16 times. The \u201cF-Bomb,\u201d 13 times. The \u201cM-F\u201d phrase, four times. The \u201cB\u201d word (in these days of the Me Too movement), 24 times. Likewise there were obscene gyrations including groping and grabbing of breasts and crotches.<\/p>\n America\u2019s favorite sport. Broadcast in early evening\u2026 partly so kids could enjoy the sport. (\u201cGrandma, what\u2019s an igger?\u201d) Overpaid illiterates parading filth, the crowd noise cheering lustily, praised by NBC announcers, paid for by Pepsi. (And you, ultimately.)<\/p>\n Our culture, if such wildly endorsed events are barometers (and they are), is in a Stage Four level of decadence. Among many comparisons I could offer, and really none are necessary as proof, we have arrived at a point where parents are not supposed to have a say in children\u2019s school curricula; where Bible passages are being censored as \u201chate speech\u201d; but a spectacle like the Super Bowl halftime show is force-fed to 100-million viewers as appropriate.<\/p>\n We have entered a Pentecost of Calamity, and extrication by traditional families and Christian patriots seems daunting. Without God\u2019s help\u2026 and a true grassroots revival\u2026 and a severe rejection of this Spirit of the Age\u2026<\/p>\n Well\u2026 have a nice week.<\/p>\n + + +<\/p>\n