Planted

When I was a teenager, I evaluated how my friends' parents were doing. I grew up in Buckhead, so many of them had everything: large houses, vacation homes, new cars, international vacations, and more. But even though they had all the ingredients for happiness, the ones who actually seemed to be doing well were focused on something bigger than happiness. One couple I got to know lived in a smaller home, drove older cars, and had more health problems. But their lives were characterized by a closeness to God and service to others. They were open about being sad or even depressed, but they still seemed whole. Joyful. Fulfilled. Psalm 1 tells us about their way of life.

In filmmaking, the A-roll carries the main action of the show. The B-roll is the secondary footage that fills in the breaks. Most of the time, I'm focused on what's in front of me. But when I get distracted or take a break, the B-roll comes to the forefront again. It often sounds like, "You're not doing enough. Try harder. Work more. Be better." When the B-roll starts playing, I get anxious.

In October 1913, Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line, cutting the time it took his factory workers to assemble a car from 12.5 hours to 93 minutes. His factory's efficiency helped the Model T become "the best-selling car in the world." But the concept of squeezing out productivity didn't stay in the automotive world. Eventually, it changed how we think about our faith.

On June 8, 1941, while Britain was fighting an uncertain war against Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, C.S. Lewis preached a sermon at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford called "The Weight of Glory." He observed, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea." Sin gets marketed as fulfilling, but Lewis said we settle for too little.

Sometimes it seems like God is the ultimate Santa Claus. He knows who's naughty and nice. If you're righteous, he takes care of you. If you're wicked, you'll be ruined. There's no point in pouting or crying, because he already knows if you've been good or bad. If you're not scared already, just remember: he is coming to town. There's a way of talking about God that makes him seem creepy and scary.