an afterthought on lies

I am sitting here, like the rest of my consumption hungry world, feeding and scavenging on every piece of news about Mike Guglielmucci's fall from our man made pedestal. I feel sick in my stomach. Not because of what he did, but that i stayed up late to dig the last 24 hours of google crawls just to satisfy my own itch on what feels like a scandal.

We all fall from grace and it is a mark of missing the point that we shovel through the thick to lick the same candy over and over again.

I'm reminded of the conversations with a former romance surrounding the Old Testament. Solomon quips there is nothing new under the sun and how very true yet again. We are visual people. We need to be satisfied by the pleasure of our eyes. History tells us that a celebrity centric culture already existed before the Haggards, Clintons and Holywoods. We bite the hand that feeds us, we ask for kings to rule over us, to tell us how to be, handsome beautiful human representations of God to be our point of reference.

The world is hurting and the world is talking, some making wise conversations, while others need to keep their mouth shut. It ought to bring us to a listening point to where our worship lies. Now it makes sense when i think about a fellow musician who was uncomfortable with the pedestal limelight on his incredible talent and would rather sit at the feet of the word and work out the heart of his devotion. It may have been selfish but what otherwise would he have been feeding?

Which brings me to consider all this music and the meaning of my investment in times like these. We write, either as authentic expressions or for purposes of extension. Others may employ the means to line pockets for a living. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I don't even think the problem is authenticity of the writing, the idea, the heart or the talent or ear of the creator.

The problem is marketing. Which is what happens before distribution.

Here's the thing. We want to be sold. We want to feel like that million dollar soap powder will bring us enlightenment - this idea of inherent value. We want to feel prosperous, filled, full, insatiated. We want to be told lies, stories sensational, ideas that scratch our back. Our forefathers asked God for rulers and kings and judges to lead us and rejected God himself. Marketing is a brain child of our desires. We want it and we will pay big money for it.

I was sitting in a personal development conference many years ago and they showed us a video of a social experiment. It was simply a youtube footage of someone giving away a $10 bill to random strangers and nobody on the street would take it. Skeptical, fear, etc? I remember thinking to myself how it was possible that no one wanted something free?

Put a little spin on it, pay someone to talk about it, package it, tug away and if you position it right in time and space, you can price it anyhow you want. That same musician i mentioned earlier was telling me of a recent story about an iPhone app that was sold on iTunes music store for $999. It did nothing more than pop up as a really nice and intriguing eye candy screen saver. And 8 people paid money for it. A thousand bucks for a screen saver. These are the days where perceived value is as good as a smart ass wagging shoe maker.

Or clever rhetoric as some call it.

We are surrounded by partial revelations, pre-packaged promises and distilled fabricants leading our nose by the carrot dangle. May we be prudent with where our wages go, where we give worship. Above all, let us guard our hearts and minds with understanding and choice consideration. For prosperity, really, is godly wisdom, trusting in a Grace laced Original creative Designer. May we learn to listen to His spirit, free from the filters of our modern day compressors, tuners, electronic enhancers and hollow graphic drugs. May we return to our humanity and beauty that is of a broken and contrite spirit.