{"id":14191,"date":"2023-12-20T08:05:26","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T13:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=14191"},"modified":"2023-12-20T08:11:07","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T13:11:07","slug":"what-who-do-we-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=14191","title":{"rendered":"what\/who do we worship?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In our continuous pursuit of all that is good and right and true, sometimes it\u2019s challenging to know exactly why something isn\u2019t<\/em> so good and right and true. Maybe it doesn\u2019t feel that way. Maybe it\u2019s the duck metaphor\u2026 like \u201cif it looks like a duck, swims like a duck,\u201d quacks, etc., \u201cthen it probably is a duck.\u201d It\u2019s the application of abductive reasoning. We can\u2019t always put words to it, but we know when something isn\u2019t all ok, virtuous, good, right, true, you name it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow us to utilize a not-so-popular example. Take the case of Taylor Swift, the pop music icon who celebrated her 34th birthday in celebrity style last week. No doubt she is immensely gifted and connects with a ton of people. Her connection, creativity and absolutely remarkable storytelling ability is laudable, to say the very least. Personally, I\u2019m a longtime admiring fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some would say it\u2019s been Swift\u2019s year. As The NY Times <\/em>penned over the weekend, \u201cTaylor Swift grabbed many headlines in 2023. Her widely popular Eras Tour, which proved too much for Ticketmaster to handle, has been both a business and a cultural juggernaut. And Time <\/em>magazine named her as its person of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed it was her year. Kudos to her\u2026 Love it. Enjoy it. Use your 15 fame minutes or moments or obviously so much more wisely and well\u2026<\/em> That certainly could be said of Swift. Writes Time: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 Something unusual is happening with Swift, without a contemporary precedent. She deploys the most efficient medium of the day\u2014the pop song\u2014to tell her story. Yet over time, she has harnessed the power of the media, both traditional and new, to create something wholly unique\u2014a narrative world, in which her music is just one piece in an interactive, shape-shifting story. Swift is that story\u2019s architect and hero, protagonist and narrator.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add her budding NFL\u2019er romance to the headlines \u2014 and it makes paying attention to Swift even more intriguing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet somewhere in the paying attention is where the good and right and true starts to fall a bit apart for me. It\u2019s not about Swift; truly. it\u2019s about us. It\u2019s about how<\/em> we take notice \u2014 and the depth of our attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, we respect her\u2026 we love her\u2026 we even have a brand new fondness for burly boyfriend Travis Kelce!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question, though, is: when does it go too far?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When does it become worship?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When does it become idolatry?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, please \u2014 let\u2019s give one another a ton of grace. Many of us are fans; there need be no judgment in our assessment. It\u2019s simply that idolatry is known to be unhealthy, and worship, well, that\u2019s wisely reserved for the divine, and last I knew, Swift wasn\u2019t the reason for the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t about the talent of Taylor Swift. This is about our response to celebrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes we worship that which was never intended as such. At Christmas and Hanukkah especially, many of us think about that worship a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was struck, no less, by the words of one other NFL\u2019er recently. He isn\u2019t nearly as known as Kelce nor even as much as most professional football players. In fact, he\u2019s actually pretty much a perennial back up, only currently playing because the biggest star in Cincinnati had a season-ending injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Browning, the undrafted Bengals quarterback, has been forced into a starting role. Not only is he starting, he is unpredictably doing very well thus far, surpassing all expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence, the celebrity status that accompanies NFL success is new to Browning. He was asked about his newfound 15 minutes or moments or more. Said Browning: \u201c[The] biggest adjustment has been I am so tired of talking about myself. I don\u2019t have that many opinions about a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much as we try to talk to a celebrity about being a celebrity, here is a person who doesn\u2019t want to focus on self. In sports or pop culture, in politics and more, how beautiful is that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That, my friends, is unquestionably good and right and true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our continuous pursuit of all that is good and right and true, sometimes it\u2019s challenging to know exactly why something isn\u2019t so good and right and true. Maybe it doesn\u2019t feel that way. Maybe it\u2019s the duck metaphor\u2026 like \u201cif it looks like a duck, swims like a duck,\u201d quacks, etc., \u201cthen it probably … <\/p>\n

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