Keep Calm Chive On...and send a selfie

No doubt you have seen this somewhere on the internet  As websites go there is usually something on there to help you pass a couple of minutes looking at the world...and admittedly with all the young women sending in selfies there is a large part of the site looking back at you.

The phrase, originally the brainchild of Britain during WWII designed to help people cope with the struggles of war (Keep calm and carry on), is now part of a culture that is the weird mix of consumerism-advocacy-charity-sexuality-goofiness that is part and parcel of our post-modern age. I have no interest is trying to define "post-modern," but I'm pretty sure this website is a standard bearer.

You know, 20 years when Sheryl Crow noted that "all our pop stars look like porn" we thought it was a fad. Wow were we wrong. I want that fast machine too Mr. McQueen. Here's the song to get you through the next paragraph. (And the irony of the video and the above lyric is not lost upon me...)

The internet has made many things before now thought to be impossible, now to be the stuff of everyday legend. And should something go viral???? The next thing you know you're on the Today show trying to explain why Grand Forks, North Dakota might not be the cultural center of the universe, but you can see it from there. Check out this internet sensation who is just delightful.

Somewhere between Marilyn Hagerty and Sheryl Crow lie most of us. We're neither talented nor lucky enough to have a Sheryl Crow lifestyle and trajectory; nor are we honest and wise enough to know our limits like Ms. Hagerty. But it's for this reason I cling to a God of love. A God whose cross carries not a message of self-promotion but rather to "chive on,"  and perhaps savor a tasty, if uninspiring, meal.

I hope the God I worship understands just how weird things can be where 20 year old girls post pictures of themselves while their great grandmothers have all you can eat breadsticks at Olive Garden...a God who understands that you have to sell stories in t-shirts so that money can be given to those in need...a God with a deep sense of humor, who understands that without Steve McQueen, Bill Murray is just a hack. I have to admit it is weird living in days like this. I understand very little that comes across my screen these days. I could get all worried about war and rumors of war, of disease, poverty, hatred, and just down-right meanness. It does concern me, but how can any of that separate me from the love of God in Christ?

But most days? Amidst all the confusion I just try to keep calm, and chive on...

May your tables be full and your conversations be true.