Keeping Up With the Joneses

Ever heard the saying, “keeping up with the Joneses”? It means replacing something you own—a coat, a car, or something else—with a more expensive version, because you saw a friend or neighbor with a nicer one than you owned.

            Several years ago, I read a story that made me think of this practice. E. R. Eastman wrote about the time he and his wife went to an auction.

            Before the auction, they saw an empty pork barrel they wanted to buy. They became separated and, when the time came to auction off the barrel, neither could see the other.

            The auctioneer was a friend of theirs, and he could not resist—he kept raising the price way over the actual value, as man and wife stubbornly fought to win the bid.

            I think that is what materialism does to people. In trying to bid against the Joneses, we raise the price of things way over their actual value.

The Wrestler

            H. B. London wrote this week about Joel Northrup. Joel is a high school student who wrestles competitively in Iowa.   

            Last week, he competed in the state tournament. The draw slated his first opponent to be—a girl. In a stand reminiscent of Eric Liddell in CHARIOTS OF FIRE, Northrup refused.                

            “Wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times. As a matter of conscience and my faith, I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa."       

            The good news is that Northrup was able to wrestle in the consolation rounds. (Incidentally, he won his first match.)       

            Joel’s dad is a preacher. The local newspaper quoted him as saying, "We believe in the elevation and respect of women and we don't think that wrestling a woman is the right thing to do."            

            Is it just me, or do both Northrup men make complete sense?

            

Judgment at Nuremberg

            One of the great movies of all time was JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG. The movie depicts the events of the post-war trials of the Nazi leaders in the late 1940s.            

            Spencer Tracy  portrayed chief judge Dan Haywood. At the end of the trials, Haywood summarizes in this way:           

            ... the most shattering truth that has emerged from this trial (is that) Had all the defendants been degraded perverts, had they all been sadistic monsters and maniacs these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake or any other natural catastrophe. But this trial has shown that under national crisis, ordinary and even able and extraordinary men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so vast and heinous that they beg of the imagination.

            When I read those words, I cannot help but think of Judges 18:1 In those days Israel had no king. Humanity is never self-sufficient enough, nor brilliant enough, to avoid moral catastrophe without God.

“Winnie Cooper” Has a Theorem

            I loved the eighties’ TV series, THE WONDER YEARS. One of the young stars of the show was an actress named Danica McKellar.

            After the series ended, Danica attended UCLA, where she discovered a love for mathematics. She also found out she was gifted in the discipline.

            In 2005, she co-authored the Chayes-McKellar-Winn theorem. Not bad.

            I would be more than happy to explain to you the nuances of the theorem. Unfortunately, I do not have the time. (Hah, Hah!) Suffice it to say, she did a good job—I take by faith.

            In the ensuing years, Danica has written books primarily designed to encourage young people in their pursuit of mathematical knowledge. Bully for her! (I should read them myself.)

            I have no idea if Danica is a Christian, but I believe she models for those of us who are how we should do the best we can with the gifts God has given us.

            Of course, we should use our gifts to serve the community of faith. However, we should also use our gifts to serve the world, which blesses the Kingdom of God.

Beating Your Head Against a Wall

            SPORTS ILLUSTRATED recently noted that major league baseball player, Brian Roberts, of the Baltimore Orioles, had to miss the last week of the season. He was suffering from recurring headaches.

            Come to find out—the headaches were caused by Roberts constantly hitting himself in the head with his baseball bat, after striking out.

            Well, duh!

            Some people live their lives this way. Paul was writing about them when he stated:

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Hold on To Your Crown

I read this article several years ago in the newspaper. This is quoted straight from the account:

REDDING, Calif. - Like thousands of other people returning from a Christmas trip, Kenneth Zimmer, 36, discovered when he got home Monday that he had left something important behind.

     But Zimmer's case is more embarrassing than most.  It seems he was driving from San Francisco to his home in Eugene, Ore., when he stopped 100 miles south of the California-Oregon border in Redding.

     Zimmer told police that he left his wife Pat, 36, and their five children sleeping in the back of their van while he had a cup of coffee, then continued the final four to five hours of his drive home.

     The children were all fine when Zimmer arrived home around dawn.  But - no wife.

     About six hours later, after the embarrassed student teacher filed a missing person report with Redding police, his wife telephoned from the Eugene bus depot asking for a ride home.

     There were no reports of anything she may have said to her husband.

            I would hope that this husband’s normal view toward his wife was like the proverb, “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown…”

            Of course, if that were true, maybe the verse this husband needed to remember would have been Rev. 3:10, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” :) 

Serving God and Mammon

            Back in 2004, Steve Rushin had an interesting take on athletes and materialism in the magazine SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Attending the NBA All-Star game—that year in Los Angeles—Rushin noted in an article entitled “Amens and Amaretto”:

            Jesus said, "Ye cannot serve both God and mammon," but that didn't stop everyone from trying during NBA All-Star week in Los Angeles, where Magic Johnson took the stage of the Shrine Auditorium and said earnestly, after a three-hour tribute in his honor, "First I want to thank God, but also American Express."

            It was like that all week in L.A., God and money intersecting, sometimes literally, as in the gold cross of diamonds that dangled from the neck of  Indiana Pacers forward-center Jermaine O'Neal. Or the silver cross of  diamonds that accessorized the Kobe Bryant jersey worn by TV's Laverne, actor-director Penny Marshall…

            My concern is not for the ones in the story. For all I know, they may have changed. My concern is, how much do their attitudes reflect mine?