Jags negatively distract us and use up energy in nearly every field of human interest. The Stock Market gets a jag, called a bubble, every now and then. One, the housing bubble (overvalued) nearly did the country in during the late first decade of the new millennium. Recently there was a gold jag running the price of gold from $300 to $500 to $1,700-$1,800 an ounce. There is one forming on the technology side. Apple Computer has doubled in a matter of months, and may not be finished. Some tout it to go as high as $1,000 a share. Facebook offered an I.P.O. on Friday at $38, and lost 15% in two business days, creating a loss to investors in hundreds of millions of dollars. As I edit this page a few months after writing it, the Facebook stock is selling at half of its original price. The loss greatly embarrassed the Wall Street Exchange. The folly of greed movements is nearly unbelievable. (Facebook later recovered to become a highly lucrative stock.) This type of story may be repeated for just about anything of interest to us. Jags as I dub adult social stunts occur in any temptation, so to call out for wisdom in counsel and conduct.
When the world turned to the 21st Century, a number of programs and articles about religion appeared. Serious analysts raised some skepticism about the social movement. Was it really a movement? According to an article in USA Today, Marian Salzman, a trend watcher, verbalized the following belief: Anything that’s spiritual is in. We’re desperately seeking opportunities to cling to things that provide explanation and solace. Salzman related this to a wellness craze and to pre-millennium tension. The fears ran the gamut from a fear of the revival of the Branch Davidian Cult (David Koresh and the fiery deaths of his followers in Waco, Texas) to the rise of interest in spiritual environments. Such environments may include aromatherapy which means to help wellness by making things smell better.
A bit of sophistication is needed here so we ought to be interested in scents that make us more spiritual. Scented candles were given out. Apparently scents were supposed to guide sense. (Pun is intended.) The writers try to underline their observations by naming some of the centers, as Tealuxei in Boston and Elixir in Los Angeles. Major cities opened Zen-like tea salons, and tonic bars gained support. The prices were pricey. Solutions were suggested for consumers who were: looking for a magic bullet to calm them down. There were well-being breakfasts, and aromatherapy, in body rubs. Exotic new dishes found ways of using grasses. Well-being was offered in buying the right pair of shoes. The spa became where-it-is- at for a great many persons. Hot water can boil out the bad juices. Religion is part of the mix, but is reduced in exotic mixing. It may be eclectic, or narrow to its own origins, but any of them will do. Find one and see if it will help. Only now and then is church recommended. Churches are not usually seen as part of the market-place with no products, brews, or business privileges – too passe’.
The world is mesmerized by the media following terrorist contexts related to random deaths. For Colorado students shot down by two of their peers, the church ceremonies continued daily for nearly two weeks with selective coverage on each one after the slayings. (Some of these services were evangelical, but the media emphasis in the coverage was on the tragedy and the generations – not on the meaning of the words of the clergy, declaring the meaning of the occasion.) One will have to sleuth each tragic death to discover if there was any faith related to God and the hereafter. In all, God became somewhat remote to the greater part of the suffering population. Not much is said about God, whose purposes make considerable difference in matters like these. Given the hash of religion as it is often treated in the media, the church may serve as a symbol of superstition. Implication seems to be that either God was playing golf (as one person put it) or something is wrong about his interest in mankind. Perhaps folks are religious at this point simply because there is nothing else to do or say that is comforting in the face of tragedy and death. The Christian story is a context of peace and comfort, a time for prayer and faith. Public grief or lament, which are real and needed, may miss the point of it all – if that is all there is in the reporting of the entire event, and its assistance in comforting a massive grieving population. God really cares. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020