Daily Meditation: "Idol Makers"
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
SCRIPTURE
"All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know . . . .Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human." - Isaiah 44:9-11
REFLECTION
Ah, idol-making...we all do it. It starts early when in adolescence we start to create heroes and heroines that inspire us and we put up posters of them in our rooms. My idol in high school? David Bowie. My room was literally covered from floor to ceiling around its entire circumference with pictures of Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke. My car was littered with cassettes of his albums. Man, did I feel a hole in my spirit when he died a few years ago.
Of course, there was a point I moved on and the pictures came down, the music in the car changed to other artists. These days my idols are different: Work, Time, House…
Isaiah would hit me up the side of my head. “Hey, Garvey...you can’t take it with you. When you’re taking your last breath and you look back at what you poured your heart and soul into, what will you see and how will you feel?”
Ugh. His prophetic truth hurts. These days of being home with my family have put things in a very profound perspective. What I can take with me are the memories of time well spent with my wife and lessons well taught with my boys. The legacy I can leave in having my children grow up to be compassionate and empathetic people who care about the lives of others. Any amount of “stuff” and time spent to acquire it is mere cosmic fluff and eventually will just end up in the trash or being owned by someone else. What matters is sitting right here having breakfast next to me while I type this.
I’m much wiser to be an artisan of the well-being of those around me, as that will be something that never comes down off of the proverbial wall.
PRAYER
Loving God, while I’m busy idolizing, instill within me an understanding of what truly matters and guide me in being an artist of lasting works.
Amen.
Peace,
Shawn