Stop hassling the Hoff!

But first: Housekeeping:

• I leave tommorow. I'm going to try to write a couple of blogs today and have Dena post them while I am gone, so keep your eyes open for new installments.
  
• I'll even try to post an update while I am in the jungle.
• Had a good lunch with aft mentioned people yesterday. A plan to develop a Youth Ministry Leadership Training Program in Peru keeps truckin along and gaining momentum.

And now:

I know I have blogged about this in the past... the distant past. And I realize that this really has no relevance to missions whatsoever. But this blog (as an entity, not this specific post) is 1 part updating on ministry and 1 part me staying connected with the outside world.

That said, why are we so obsessed with celebrities?

Hasselhoff gets drunk and eats a sandwich (I think?) off the floor and the world is glued to their TV's criticizing the man for being under the influence, but we don't bat an eye to the alcoholism that is tearing families and communities apart in our town.

Britney Spears has a breakdown and gos to rehab and we call her a bad mom, but we hardly bat an eye to the physical child abuse that happens in our own neighborhood.

It's almost as though, as a collective species, we would rather watch Entertainment Tonight than write a letter to our government about the crisis in Darfur, would rather read the tabloids that judge and destroy the lives of celebrities than whatever scriptures we claim guide our life, which in most cases teach love, acceptance, peace and tolerance.

Why can't we stop obsessing over the lives of those we cannot affect, and focus on the lives around us that we have been given the opportunity and responsibility to impact?

What have we become?

Tom-Kat

First off, let me just say, Tom Cruise has had some great movies. Top Gun, Mission Impossible... um... well... I guess that might be it... oh and Jerry McGuire (however I got so sick of people saying "show me the money" for the next 5 years that I secretly wanted to give Cruise a lobotomy). And as far as Katie Holmes, with the exception of the week I was stuck in bed in High School with no cable and forced to watch Dawson's Creek reruns, I'm afraid I think she's just another puppy dog face in a sea of dogs... oh, well, that may not have come out the way I meant it.

But this is my thought: Why do we seem to (sobeit, subconsciously maybe) hate our lives so much that we are obsessed with the lives of people that we will most likely never meet. I mean, why is it that single mothers of four have no problem neglecting their own children, but will flock to the television to catch a fuzzy glimpse of TomKat's baby Suri?

Is it simply disenchantments with our current condition? Is it a sense of "If only I had (insert regret here), that could have been me with all that money, marrying that hot celebrity."

The most confusing thing perhaps is that this celebrity addiction seems to go beyond the realm of trailer trash (I lived in a trailer for part of my childhood, so I am allowed to use this term) into seemingly committed Christ Disciples. Is it that they want to escape from their life for something more exciting? If so is this the fault of themselves? Is it the fault of those who have pureed the gospel to the point that it is about as exciting as liquefied spam and made the xian life to seem totally devoid of adventure, and instead just a long list of rules and requirements? Both?

Anyway, that's it for now. I was just taking a minute to blog this morning during a commercial, but now I need to get back to the E! Channel's coverage from Italy.


PS: Here's a quick explanation for those of you who don't understand the religion of this High Priest of Sceintology. And who better to explain it then Stephen Colbert!