The Olden Days

At times I really long for some of the good parts of the olden days. Like maintaining a concept of what is "good." A couple days ago I had "opportunity" to watch some television while I was waiting in an office. In a short span of time I became acutely aware that the modern concept of entertainment has taken a strange turn.

There was one ad for a new show, where a married woman is having an affair with a younger man, it seemed so glorified as if we all wish we were having one. I came home looked up the show on line to see if I had read something into the ad that was not there but instead found I was right on and discovered links to all sorts of shopping so you could look and dress like the characters. The new role model ?

There was another ad for a show that detailed murders, in every aspect. Murder is murder, not entertainment. Showing what it looks like to have your head blown off is not something I need to see. I enjoy a good mystery as much as the next person, but I really don't have to fill my brain with pictures of blood and guts.

There was a final ad for a show where in a business, it appeared every single person was cut-throat. Manipulating, mean spirited and certainly not emulating honorable behaviors. How did subjects like these replace a thirst for becoming a better person by watching good people do good things ?

Even the news is filled with graphic details that can give you nightmares. Plain people avoid the newspaper, have no radio and television. Watch no movies and you know what, they make it in the world just fine. Innocence still exists and their lack of "being informed" has not held them back from success or from making good judgements. So that kind blows the whole argument that we need to know all of what is going on in life. I don't think we have to know all the graphic details of the ugliness. People got on for generations without knowing what your brain looks like after it was blown off. Maybe even fewer people got hurt when adultery was not an accepted norm in society. Work was more enjoyable for many in companies where ethics were held higher than the almighty dollar. Where it was better to try and be kind to your fellow employees than to try and make them suffer because you think they are weird.

I like the olden days approach to try to live life according to the golden rule. Even back to my mothers generation, they didn't just speak their mind without regard for how it might hurt another persons feelings. Consideration existed. It wasn't always perfect in the olden days I know that, but you know, people were kinder in their dealings with others in general. You don't have to be so obligated to say what you think, when what you think might hurt another persons feelings. You don't have to find the details of the ugly side of things and label it entertainment.

Yup, I even like story books where honor is upheld as the high road to take.

I am reminded of this verse...Ephesians 5: 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. Imagine using that verse to guide our choice in what we read, what we watch, and what we talk about ?

photo is of my great grandmother Emma Heckbert