Avoiding People

The magazine. Not your neighbours or relatives.

I have not seen a copy of “People” in maybe years. It is just as tacky as ever. I can’t imagine a better example of what has gone wrong with culture. It`s about…people you have no reason to know (famous and rich),… people who are desperate (an issue on people losing weight because as one subject said, `No one ever told me I was cute.`)…people who are trivialized after fighting hard for freedom, their lives, or justice (because you can`t cram a long struggle into three pages, with photos.)

I don`t know why is this one of the most popular magazines ever. It is not educational, instructional or enlightening. It`s junk food for the brain.

I wonder if this is just what people want. It`s much easier to live your life on the surface, concerned about appearance, clothes, fashion, fame, attention and sex. It`s about soap opera story lines – the ones on television, the ones acted out in celebrity lives. People is about making up a life, not living one.

Real life can be pretty boring. It`s laundry. (I`ve got a load of clothes to fold, and I must reassemble the vacuum before the day is out. Yes, I took it apart. I had good reason.) Real life is dirty diapers and dishes to wash, and the end of winter, with the yard looking like a buffalo wallow. Real life is rather boring doctor`s appointments. (`Can you see this – can you see it now…`)

But there is something in real life that you won`t find in People. True love. Spiritual strength. Lasting friendship. Laughter over pork chops for dinner. The gift of being ordinary and out of the spotlight. God made us ordinary people, while making us extraordinary, when we turn back to Him and look for real life there. We don`t need a fabricated life, or to live out our days in other People`s lives. God finds us interesting enough to be with us always.