the salt of the earth...
Our modern, media saturated society places a great deal of
emphasis on celebrity, high drama, fashion, late-breaking news, winners, losers,
comfort, glamour, super powers, and loud noises. The result is a
sort of "media window" into a captivating, fast-moving blend of information,
entertainment, heroes, villains, political intrigue, and non-stop excitement.
A world where wealth, fame, and external power are magnified, exalted, and
nearly always equated with success.
|
Billions of Flowers |
 The
beauty of this particular flower is recognized and highlighted on this web page.
But how many other flowers are quietly sharing their grandeur as they bloom in
our world? |
It is good to look through this window and recognize and
respect greatness and talent, whether it be athletic prowess, artistic ability,
or even an exceptionally charismatic persona. It is also good to be
aware that the media magnification of such traits serves numerous purposes, not
all of them healthy. (For one, it helps sell products. Lots and lots
of products.) As I see it, media exaltation can unconsciously skew our sense of
reality. It can minimize the perceived value of our individual, unique
places in this world.
Who do we look up to? Who do we admire? And
why?
I admire the guy who runs the snowplow and keeps the roads
clear in the winter so folks can go to work. I admire the woman who stops
at the nursing home every Wednesday afternoon to visit the elderly residents who
have no family. I admire the bus driver who delivers the children safely
to school and then back home five days a week. I admire the young, busy
mother who looks after her children and still makes time to tend to a flower
garden near her back porch because it brings an extra measure of beauty into the
world. I admire the person who, while taking a walk, bends over and picks
up a piece of litter on the ground and then later disposes of it properly.
I admire the nurse. I admire the receptionist who cheerfully answers the
phone for a small business.
Heroes. Superstars.
And pretty much anonymous.
I recently had an unexpected conversation with a man who is
texturing and painting the walls of my home and the Light in the Woods Chapel.
He's what you might call an "Everyday Joe." In addition to his "day job,"
he serves as the local coroner. He became the coroner after he became an
Emergency Medical Technician. He returned to school to become an EMT after
his 14 year-old daughter was killed by a drunk driver, and then later, his 16
year-old daughter died in a house fire. He was grief stricken. He also
felt his beloved daughters could have received better medical attention at the
time they passed on. Here is a man who walked through tremendous adversity
and processed his grief by doing what? He moved forward by quietly doing
what he could to make the world a better place.
This is nobility.
I stand humbled in his shining Light.
His story will not be made into the movie of the week.
It will not be a newspaper headline. Despite Andy Warhol's predictive
proclamation, it is unlikely his actions will ever garner 15 minutes of
fame...and that's exactly the way he wants it.
For every Mother Teresa doing astounding (and justly
recognized) charitable work in the world, it serves us well to remember that
there are perhaps a million others doing similar service whom you will never
hear about. You might be one of them.
They are our heroes. They are our Superstars.
May we forever remember who the real life heroes
are. The Salt of the Earth. As we clearly recognize their Light in
the everyday moments of life, we more fully recognize the absolute truth of our
own Light, mundane though it may seem outside the seductive attention and glare of a media spotlight.
-Rev. Tom
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Future Superstar |
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(Future Plumber) |
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