Well, there seems to be much talk of the Snickers Super Bowl ad. I don't understand why there's all the fuss. I myself sat on my couch with my husband and our children watching the game. (I concede this to him out of love - I HATE football) The Snickers ad ran and I turned to Tim and said "well that's typical! how disgusting! Snicker Co. should be ashamed of themselves!" Yet, it wasn't surprising either. T.V. is filled with these types of crude and juvenile attempts at humor, not to mention the overabundance of erotic sexual images that are used even in TIRE commercials for goodness sakes!! I don't even care to discuss the "gay activists' outrage" here. Give me a break! Frankly, I'm sick to death of hearing about how "outraged" they are. If I go any further I will be lead into sin ....this is one area I continually fail at practicing the virtues of charity and patience. I need to work on that.
The house here has been filled with much coughing and nose blowing as of late so school's been cut way back to allow for plenty of lay around and do nothing time. This, although very anxiety inducing for me, (I'm constantly thinking about how "far behind" we're getting) also allows me the positive of being able to READ. My current book is Bishop Sheen's Life Is Worth Living. Last night I read his chapter titled Misplaced Infinite. Thinking about all the current SICKNESS of our modern culture - the distortion of sex and human sexuality, the abuse of children, the corporate greed, the materialism, the lack of concern for the poor, the violence, the outright rejection of God. I could go on but I think it should be obvious to anyone that the way things stand currently in the world today is NOT the way God intended us to live. The Bishop's words on this topic are so clear that I had an "Ah-Ha" moment on my couch as I read. He breaks things down so simply that even a simpleton catholic housewife like me can understand. (thick sarcasm) Here is a part of the chapter. Let me note here that I omit the first part which was a description of normal living. Bishop Sheen goes on to then describe abnormal living...
To illustrate abnormal living, draw a line across the original design:This represents man cutting himself off from God and proclaiming his own sufficiency. But man cannot live without a god; that is impossible. The infinite haunts him constantly. So he has to make his own gods.
These gods are generally three. The first god is his own body. Sexual pleasure then becomes the supreme goal of life and ultimate happiness. From that point on, he attempts to compensate for a want of eternal divine destiny by the intensity of his erotic experiences.
My comments: I see this not only manifested in our obsession with all things sexual, but in our culture obsession with all things physical generally. We are fixated on our health. Eat healthy exercise etc. We take it to an extreme it seems. All this focus on rock hard abs and a "good butt" may be innocent enough if we had an equal focus on our spiritual health as well. But we do not. We seem to chase down the illusive "healthy lifestyle" without ever once considering the health of our immortal soul! The Bishop continues...
Other men make a god of their minds through egoism and pride and the exaltation of the ego: "There is no knowledge outside of what I know; there is no law outside of my own will. I must always be pleased."
The body, made its own limit, becomes sex; the mind made its own limit, becomes egotism; the things, denied an extra-earthly relationship, become the source of greed. Civilization then becomes a conflict of individual egotisms, each one affirming his own will - only to have it challenged by his neighbor. From this result jealousies, bickerings, slanders, class conflict, and war.
My comments: A line comes to mind that is like nails on a chalkboard as they say - "well, as long as he/she is happy then..." or "Whatever makes you happy...as long as you're not hurting anyone" AHHHHHHH! There is almost nothing I hate to hear more. It is just this type of egoism and pride that the Bishop refers to I think. People will deny it whole heartily (many Christians I know included) but their actions betray them. They may say that God is their god but really they are their own god and God must conform to Their will or He wouldn't be a very "compassionate" god then would He? The Bishop continues...
The third substitute god men make for the true God is the material: wealth, avarice, business, and greed. The true infinite is replaced by the false infinite of "more". Being naked on the inside, such men attempt to cover their nudity by a vain display or aggrandizement of externals, thinking they are worth something because they have something.
To indicate how man, once he has broken connections with the heavens above, locks himself in his own false temple with his own false god, draw a circle around body, mind, and things, which become misplaced infinities. ...the unhappiness of man comes from adoration of the three concupiscences: the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and abnormal love of the world.
My comments: The third substitute of God being material I think is one we often pass off on those "rich old white men who run the world". But in truth it is something we all should take a closer look at in our own lives. Do we hoard our earthly possessions out of fear? Are we truly charitable or do we give our "token" charity to "qualify" as a Christian. Don't we all get wrapped up in the newest and latest trends at times? I know myself that I've had to actively resist this pull to HAVE in order to feel satisfied.
Also, the phrase "abnormal love of the world" immediately brings to mind all this fuss over "global warming" and how we are evil destroyers and we overpopulate the earth etc. I love nature as much as anybody. But I also temper that love of the natural world with a trust in God and His plans and a knowledge that man made in God's image and given an immortal soul is infinitely more valuable than a tree or an owl.
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