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God and the Art of Toy and Diecast Marketing
Fear Not
By Lu Su
I recently attended my 25th high school reunion.It was held in upstate New York. (I know, I know, I need to find a more recent picture of myself; but I figure if Ann Landers and her sister Abby are taking their time about it, I can too). It was nice to see many of my former classmates. Although many of them weren't that nice during high school, I see that the years have soften most of them up. Plus the New England Fall foliage was absolutely spectacular this year. Most who attended were still local, but a significant number did fly or drive in from all different parts of our country.
I've heard about this strange re-union ritual, where you are suppose to impress people (whom you really don't know) with how wonderful your life has become. In the United States the two most common vehicles used to accomplish this objective is TITLE or STUFF. Either what name you have obtained for yourself or how many things you have been able to squirrel away since high school. So I thought of introducing myself as the Toy King of the town of Moonachie and boast about my diecast model car collection that could completely cover a football field (actually just a foosball table, but I would leave that part out). But I opted against this approach. I also opted out of requiring them to bow and kiss the ring on my finger before they departed my presence.
In Afghanistan, most people don't have such vehicles of title or stuff. Most Afghans have no opportunity to literally own a vehicle either. There aren't that many professional titles there to be achieved. There just isn't all that much STUFF around for people to accumulate (unless they want to enter the pet rock business). Unlike us Americans, where we can rent a mini storage unit or a POD to put our STUFF in, this is a totally unknown concept for them.
According to a professional soldier who has already served two tours of duty there, he told me that glass windows are absent from almost all the homes in Afghanistan. He told me that most Americans don't realize how poor this country is. After walking through more than 10 dozen country villages, he told me that he was surprised one day to come across a house that actually had pane glass in its front windows (but just its front windows). He later learned that house belonged to town's mayor and that pane glass was one of the means to display wealth in that country. We American might show off wealth by driving a particular type of car. Afghans accomplish this by getting people to walk in front of their house. So this ritual of impressing people seems to occur every where in the world -no matter how rich or poor.
Although I was expecting to see this ritual (of impressing one another with title or stuff) being performed at our reunion, for the entire afternoon and evening I neither heard nor saw any of my classmates participating in the contest. That was true, until I introduced myself to a handsome couple sitting at a table by themselves. After not seeing someone for twenty five years, without a doubt, the top three questions were where do you live?, what do you do?, and how many kids do you have? After only the first question was posed to the girl who sat in front of me in math class, I learned much with just a single question. She and her husband are both Doctors (in dentistry) and they live on an ESTATE (make sure you say 'estate' with emphasis because that was how it was emphasized to me). Their house features an indoor swimming pool and comes equip with a bowling alley. Recently, she and her husband just purchased a 33 foot boat.
To me, it seemed like this dam broke and all this information that had been pent up all day just needed to get out. I was unsure then (and still am now) on what the appropriate response should be. Are you suppose to say, "Good job?" or " I wish I could be you?"
"Lu, did you tell them about our recent big purchase?" my wife asked. "The other day I went to Trader Joe's and purchased two boxes of cheese balls." Leave it to my witty wife who said, "I think they were Italian. When you bake them they turn gooey on the inside, but get crispy on the outside"
I thought to myself. "They might have a 33 foot yacht, but I've got Trader Joe cheese balls." Unfortunately, my wife's comment occurred at the kitchen table after I had recounted the conversation to her. I wished my wife was present when the conversation actually took place. I would have liked to have seen their facial expressions and I am very curious to see what the proper respond to "We've got cheese balls" is.
I should get to the point. In the last article, fear made Mike do a bunch of strange thing (i.e. keep silent, confiscate evidence, dress up a dead rabbit) In this story, fear can make people feel the need to impress people they don't know.
Fear is so pervasive and is such a strong motivator. Fear is so powerful that it is able to affect how you speak, how you treat others, where you live, who you marry, and even affects what stuff you choose to accumulate. As a nation, fear of a slowing economy makes us spend unprecedented amounts of money that we don't have. Fear was the main motivator that got our troops into foreign countries. Fear has the ability to totally shape both our physical and spiritual journeys too.
I have a hunch that the Creator of the universe, who owns everything because he made it, is NOT impressed with our titles or stuff we've accumulated and think is ours. But I am positive that God realizes the great impact fear has on our physical and spiritual journeys. So it is no accident that "Fear Not" is the most repeated command in the Bible.
You will not reach your full potential as the person God designed you to be, unless you can get over some key fears in your life. And I honestly believe more people than you realize are counting on you. Where would we be now if our forefather Abraham was too fearful to move to a foreign land? Where would we be now if Moses was too fearful to return to Egypt? Where would you be if someone was too fearful in sharing the Gospel with you?
"Okay, Fear Not", you say. "Got it! From now on, as soon as I wake up, I'm not going to fear anything. I'm going to walk around and not fear. I'll make a concerted effort not to do or say anything out of fear. But realistically Lu, how do you do this? Isn't fear just a natural response? Isn't it natural to fear for our lives, our future, our children's welfare, our economy, for enough food to eat, and adequate shelter? "
Yes, fear is a natural response; as far as I know, nobody needs to teach us on how to be fearful. But because nature abhors a vacuum, something needs to fill the void if we are able to consciously remove fear out of our lives. What can fill that void? Some people will use humor; but most will use either more stuff or busy-ness. I cannot speak for other world views, but for the Christian world view I know this. That void is to be filled with faith. But faith in what?
For a meaningful physical or spiritual journey, It's vital that the journey is grounded in Truth. So we are back to Pontius Pilate's question, "What is Truth?". What is totally ironic about Pontius' question is that Truth was sitting right in front of him. Christians believes that Truth incarnated about two thousand years ago. This is just a fancy way of saying God became a man. God was fully human and fully God at the same time.
He then hand picked a group of men who became his followers (the early church) and taught them by using something called language. Words were used to convey what Truth is. So if "fear not" is the most common command in the Bible, what was Jesus' number one rebuke to his students? You need to study more? No. You're not focused enough? No. You're too feeble or weak minded? No, not that either. The answer Jesus gave back then to his students for not getting it right applies to us today. Jesus' number one rebuke to his followers was....... their lack of faith.
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If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of
little faith? -
Matthew 6:30
-
He replied, "You of
little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. -
Matthew 8:26
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Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of
little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" -
Matthew 14:31
-
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of
little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? -
Matthew 16:8
-
He replied, "Because you have so
little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." -
Matthew 17:20 -
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "
Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." -
Luke 8:25
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If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of
little faith! -
Luke 12:28 -
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their
lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. -
Mark 16:14
In this order. Grow Faith. Fear Not.
