The Coyer Chronicles

The following is from the Highlands Study Center:

We are made to be emotive creatures. God Himself calls us to mourn with those who mourn, even as we rejoice with those who rejoice. Such, of course, can come with a great deal of pain. I suggested several years ago when Saint Peter Presbyterian Church went through some difficult times, that it was easy enough to make the whole thing go more easily. All we had to do was to stop caring about one another. The rewards of genuine covenant community are remarkable. The risks, however, are great.

We can, however, nip around the edges of genuine emotion, all while missing the dangers. It matters not whether the emotions we draw near to are happy or sad. We can experience faux happiness when we pretend to commit our emotions to that which doesn’t really, in the end, matter. If, for instance, my favorite team wins the big game, I can jump and shout and pretend that something important has happened. But there is no genuine risk, because if my team loses, well then, it’s just a game.

This same principle is at work, I believe, in the debilitating effects of computer games. People smarter than I am have suggested that computer games provide young men with a faux sense of conquest and victory. Some scholars even claim that these games are a potent force in the growing problem of perpetual adolescence. If you can get a false, and safe version of the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment by “saving the princess” playing Mario Brothers, you no longer feel the need to save an actual princess, that is, to marry and raise a family. I hope to explore this more in the future.

Today, however, my focus is more on faux grief. The broader culture, as I write, is zeroed in on yet another national catharsis, as it mourns the death of Michael Jackson. From an entirely appropriate perspective, it is sad to see this man die while his life is such a wreck, and a public one at that. We who serve the real King should not overlook the hard reality of eternal punishment likely facing the King of Pop. That said, we do not join in in this cultural mourning. And neither, in the end, do they. Precious few of the thousands gathered around the Jackson marker on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, have really lost anything. Precious few of those who sit glued to the television taking in the countless hours of coverage have really lost anything. Instead what they have gained is an opportunity to act as though something really matters, all without having to fear losing anything that really matters. What they have gained is an opportunity to “connect” with millions of others who have likewise lost nothing.

Boundless Line: Virginity Rocks ... But Not on a T-Shirt