I got my first job when I was eight. Pumped gas at my Uncle Larry's gas station in South Texas. To this day, I get nostalgic when I see red gas station rags and how I used to carry one in my back pocket to clean the taillights of cars after hearing that ubiquitous command: "Fill 'er up, kid." That was the summer I learned the value of a dollar. Literally. I worked 4-5 hours a day, and got one dollar. That and a Coke. Oh, and the occasional single serving pecan pie from the snack rack.
When I was 13, I went to work as an assistant janitor--albeit illegally on a cash only basis--at a church in my neighborhood that just happened to be a Church of Christ. Thus was my intro into the rough crowd I got mixed up with at a tender age. I worked like a dog for ten dollars a week cleaning out diaper baskets, washing windows, and vacuuming what felt like an eternally ugly carpet. For that color of red, mind you, I have no nostalgia. In fact, it was a very scary place. Perhaps I will tell you about it some other time.
I look back on my childhood and remember being scared an awful lot, probably more than a child should have been. But now that I have my own kids, I have discovered that children walk around feeling pretty vulnerable much of the time. That's probably why my daughter likes to think of me as big and tough and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Did you know that there are actually studies now that use childhood-based fears as advertising tools to get you to buy things? And wouldn't you know it: Much of the four billion dollars spent over the past few months by the political machine has gone into creating such ads to get us to vote the right way.
I said a prayer this morning thanking God that the political ads come to an end today. Personally, I DVR everything now and no longer watch commercials. Especially during seasons like this, however, I avoid them at all costs. In my humble opinion, no greater damage is being done to our contemporary culture than the colossal mind-numbing brainwash we volunteer for at the hands of political ads and 24-hour "news." It's just mean.
Two years ago for Lent I decided to give up watching the news. I still stay informed through online newspapers, but that's about it. I learned a while back that I really do not need someone coaching me on what I need to fear. I have also come to learn that elections come and go, not that much ever really changes, and that the world got a lot simpler to me, not to mention less scary, when I embraced faith in an eternity that is not bound by what people name with venomous anger as all these clear and present dangers.
"The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." (1 John 2:17)
"There is no fear in love." (1 John 4:18)
