Worthless

Turn my eyes from watching what is worthless.

 - From Psalm 119

Future HHS Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, was asked, during the 2016 campaign, to explain the appeal of Donald Trump, as a Presidential candidate. He said "People are drawn to a shiny object." And Mr. Trump does indeed draw attention to himself. He always has, almost effortlessly. And it isn't just because he is rich and famous. He was able to leverage whatever gifts or advantages he has, to keep himself in a well-balanced center of our culture, for decades.

I found the comment by Dr. Carson to be very curious, indeed. For, I have always attributed the idea of a "shiny object," or "shining person," with some suspicion, or even, alarm. The Serpent, in the Garden of Eden, is elsewhere called "The Shining One." There was a great appeal, perhaps physical beauty, in the Serpent. If you can look only at the skin of a snake, or almost any reptile, apart from the rest of the creature, you see patterns, and a finish, that does draw your gaze. The stare of a snake can have a hypnotic effect.

We love celebrities. There's a reason that magazines like "People" are positioned at the check-out line at a grocery store. While waiting, you might glance at the cover . . . begin reading about some rich and famous person, run out of time, and decide that you could easily part with another couple of dollars (some of the "collectible" magazines run upwards of $15!)

I wonder . . . if there weren't so many worthless, but appealing, things to look at, would we instead look at things of true value?

We seem to know, intellectually, that we spend an awful lot of time on the Internet, or on Cable TV, just watching things that are not good for us, at all. In most cases, it's probably bad for us. But we do it anyway.

We need to pray that God makes us look away from such material. Because otherwise, we know that we would not have the self-discipline to turn away.

The world if full of worthless content that we read and watch. And . . . in my mind, this is not the same as "fake" material. Something may be accurate, and even true - but it's dissemination serves to divide people and make them angry. This makes it worthless. Even facts can be things we should avoid.

But instead, we should be drawn to things that build up, and inspire us . . . stuff that encourages us to love others.

Just yesterday, I met a person that shared with me, that she has learned not to be impressed by a person's image. She said, "I just want to relax, have fun, and be happy." That sounds like a good choice, and a good place to start.