February 25, 2010
FAITH MATTERS, February 25, 2010
Dear Friends,
The Financial Times reported that belief in consumer brands has replaced religious faith as the thing that gives purpose to people's lives. "Brands are the new religion. People turn to them for meaning," declared the advertising firm of Young and Rubicam. Fitch, the London design consultancy reported that many people flocked to IKEA instead of church on Sundays. Tens of thousands of people have been married at Disney World, and it is now common for Harley-Davidson motorcycle fanatics to be buried in Harley-branded coffins.
Young and Rubicam claims that today's brand builders could be compared to the missionaries of former times; they stand not just for a kind of "quality" but for a set of beliefs. Or should I say "briefs" since Calvin Klein was one named exemplar of the New "belief brands."
Now, I've always known that we humans can't escape living our lives without believing in something. But I couldn't have dreamed up marketing a transcendent outcome like Coca-Cola, Nike and BMW. Maybe this brand deification has already peaked. Hard to tell. But idolatry of one form or another has always been the perennial human problem - substituting something or someone (like ourselves, for instance, or money, power etc. etc.) for God's constitutive place in the world (universe/created order of everything) and especially in our lives.
One of the tangible outcomes of following along Jesus' path to Jerusalem, death and ultimate resurrection in Lent involves re-establishing the proper ordering of things, making clear, deliberate steps to clean out our spiritual house and re-align our priorities, and in the process re-affirm our commitment to lives that reflect the mind of Christ.
Tonight at 6:30 begins our Thursdays in Lent meditative services of prayer, praise and healing designed to aid our spiritual progress in this season. Following these services your clergy and program staff will prepare a simple meal - perhaps a favorite recipe for soup and bread - served on the third floor. The evening's celebrant may host table conversation concerning the worship focus, or spiritual disciplines that can be ignited during Lent. Or perhaps you will find simple pleasure in sharing bread with your extended family. All are invited.
I also want to alert you to a change in our Easter plans. As we've been reading the spirit of the season and our worship trajectory over these last several years, we believe the time is ripe to offer another service Easter morning. To that end we'll schedule identical festival services at 9 and 11 with orchestra and choir and move our dawn service to 7am. Please make note of this change. Anecdotal testing of this schedule among congregants has resulted in a very favorable response. We hope this will accommodate more people and respond to the broad needs of our diverse family. In the meantime, I encourage you to observe a holy Lent.