Many people grow up wanting to live the American dream. They plan on getting married, having some kids, buying a home, driving shiny cars, a few toys, and advancing their career. In the end when they retire, they plan on a life of luxury and play. Many people pursue this American dream with vengeance.
My family lives in such a community. The city of Runaway Bay is a retirement community. The city is built around Lake Bridgeport and an eighteen hole golf course. All of our neighbors are retired or near retirement age. They worked hard, planned, saved, and now spend their days in playing golf, traveling, fishing, and spending time at the country club. Is that all there is? A golf score seems like too small a goal to live for or catching another fish. Going shopping and traveling seems overrated. From my perspective there is no place like home. Surely there is a bigger purpose to live for and expend our energy than golf, fishing, traveling, and shopping.
If the American dream is everything it is cracked up to be let me ask a few questions. Why are so many marriages crumbling behind the walls of dream houses? Why are so many students, spoiled by the latest video games, cell phones, and vehicles, hooked on alcohol and drugs? Why do some take their own life even though they appear from the outside looking in to be right in the middle of the American dream? Why are so many families stressed and depressed because of all the debt trying to keep up with others pursuing the American dream? Why do so many people claiming to live the American dream have to file bankruptcy because things have gotten so out of hand? Why do so many extra-marital affairs happen among those supposedly living the American dream?
The American dream is an illusion. This really came home to me many years ago while on a field trip in Fort Worth to the Log Cabin Village. This is a little village set up as life would have been like in the pioneer days. The smallness of the cabins struck me. When our guide pointed toward the closet and cited how many pioneer men and women only owned two suits of clothes I felt spoiled. I have a closet and chest of drawers full of clothes. I have dress clothes, casual clothes, and work out clothes. I have clothes for the summer as well as for the winter.
I am convinced the American dream is an illusion. While the media paints this picture and people have bought into it the American dream does not satisfy. Everything about it is set up to make us discontent with what we have. We want bigger houses, newer clothes, more shoes, newer cars, the latest cell phones etc. We can go back as far as sitcoms such as the Donna Reed Show or Leave It To Beaver and see the portrait of the American family living the American dream.
Several things stand out. Why were all those sitcoms featuring white people? Are white people the only ones eligible for the American dream? What about people of color? Is the American dream segregated? Looking back then it seemed to be. Now diversity is in. Sin is flaunted on television like it is the new normal. Shows such as Blackish and The Modern Family, which I have never watched, paint a different America. Diversity is in unless you are a born again, Bible believing, Christian who believes in the right to bear arms.
Next, I ask was it really feasible that June Ward on Leave It To Beaver actually cooked and cleaned in high heels and a pearl necklace. That is a fantasy world. Cooking, cleaning, lawn work, and paying bills are all hard work. There are many nights when dinner at our house is eaten in shifts or on the run as we rush off to the next event. I work to have our family sit down at the dining table for dinner at least a few nights of weeks. This is increasingly difficult. It is not that uncommon for families to eat dinner at tv trays watching television and then everyone disappears to their room. They never sit at the dining table expect at holidays. Children get lost in the fantasy world of video games and social media. Parents watch their own television or bring their work home. Sadly these families do not engage in family conversations where real dialogue takes place.
How many students living the American dream, who are popular and successful at school, feel unloved by workaholic parents. These students strive to achieve in hopes of winning the approval of parents. They are ignored. Instead of nurture they get more money to buy their love. Again the American dream is an illusion.
Wake up. You do not have to play this game. You can choose a different path. I advocate pursuing God's dream for you and your family. That is far more important than having all the outward appearances of success. God's ways are the best ways. His principles are timelessly true. Those who build their lives on those truths build their lives and families on a firm foundation. Those who believe the illusion of the American dream wake up one day and wonder when will the fulfillment come. When will the contentment, joy, satisfaction, and sense of purpose come. It comes through submission to the person of Jesus Christ. To the pit of hell with the American dream.
No comments:
Post a Comment