Thoughts on Charlie Sheen
Actor Charlie Sheen has been in the news a great deal lately. His outlandish behavior and peccadilloes have been well documented. In fact, Charlie Sheen has probably received much publicity in recent weeks as President Obama or whatever Middle Eastern dictator is facing a revolt on any particular day.
Lets be honest, the saga of Charlie Sheen, while certainly lamentable is not earth shattering news. It has no bearing on gas prices. It really doesn’t have any effect on the unemployment rate. It has no effect on the federal deficit. It cannot reduce the national debt. The future of the world does not rise and fall on the story of Charlie Sheen. Yet, we all watch.
The entire Charlie Sheen situation reminds me of a traffic accident that we might encounter while driving along a freeway. Whenever we encounter a traffic accident on the side of the freeway, try as we might we cannot avoid slowing down to take a look. I often hear radio traffic reporters refer to this phenomenon as “spectator slowing.”
So it is with Charlie Sheen. Try as we might, we cannot avoid glancing at articles about him in the newspaper or internet. Though we might not really want to watch we are drawn to the stories about him on television news programs. Charlie Sheen is a walking car wreck on the freeway. We don’t want to watch but we can’t help ourselves. We are caught up in the “spectator slowing” of the Charlie Sheen show.
Why are we drawn to stories such as these? Sadly, there is a cruel streak that runs through many folks. Many simply like to see the famous fall. In our society we love heroes. We cheer on the great athlete. We idolize the rock star. We adore the famous actor or actress. Yet, on the other hand many also enjoy their fall.
I’m sure there is a psychologist or a sociologist that can tell us why this is the case. I suspect that it stems from our need to be assured that the famous and glamorous folks in our world are just as mortal as the rest of us. It’s probably reassuring to know that these folks have ups and downs in life just the same as all of us. There could even be a twinge of jealousy I suspect.
Someone has probably thought to his or her self, “I’d rather be who I am than be who Charlie Sheen is and have his problems.” Quite frankly, I would rather be who I am and live the life I live than live the life and have the problems of Charlie Sheen.
Yet, the truth is while I may not have the problems of Charlie Sheen, I do have the problems and issues of John Brown. One subject that the Bible makes fairly clear is that everyone encounters ups and downs in life.
This past Sunday my sermon dealt with a passage from Matthew’s gospel in which Jesus talks about those who hear his words and do them are like a wise person who builds a house on a rock. When the rains come and the floods rise that house still stands.
He also says that those who don’t hear his words are like the one who builds a house on sand. When the rains come and the floods rise that house is washed from its foundation.
What we often miss in that story is that it rains on both houses. No matter how devoted we are in our faith the truth is that life has its moments of triumph and tragedy for all of us.
The question for us to answer is simply, “In whom do we place our faith and trust in the ups and downs of life?” The book of Psalms answers that question for us, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2 NRSV) When all is said and done if we place our trust in the Lord then we are truly wise.