Deep Fried Myths

Two posts below are relevant here: the sermon on myths and the bit about 666.

I’ve taken a passing interest in the growing distaste with fast food culture in popular discourse. I remember being appalled watching Super Size Me while eating my Big Mac and fries. More recently, I’ve followed the development of the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser into a movie due to be released sometime this year. Schlosser’s book, more than the movie, is a well-researched and compelling indictment of the fast food industry, particularly MacDonald’s. He recently went head to head with a top Mac Exec in the UK, which You Tube has published on the web in three parts. Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dclZxxaB6XE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIWmvCaGta4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIWmvCaGta4

Has this stopped me enjoying fast food? No. Am I a hypocrite? Sheesh!!

One thing that strikes me is that if I am tempted to laugh at those afraid of the Myth of 666, I need to bear in mind the power of the Myth of fast food which dominates my life, particularly in moments of weakness when I am too busy, too tired, too hungry to care.

My human brain is far more pliable than I like to admit. Pummelled by a thousand myths a day, I wonder to what extent I am really in control of my life. I get thirsty when I see an ad for coke, even though I can manage no more than a few sips of the stuff before I balk. I find myself dreaming of my own greatness, walking (nay, almost strutting!) with greater confidence after I watch something like Bourne Identity, even while the cynic in my guffaws at my machismo. I walk into a shinny bright techy shop and find it hard not to whip out the plastic to buy that wonderful new gismo that keeps my coffee warm and does my taxes. I walk out again into the Cape rain and the urge has passed – my plastic breathes. A thousand times a day an urge nearly overcomes me - and sometimes does.

It comes out of nowhere and seems to be the heart of me. Mostly I do not bother to notice, but more recently it has intrigued me. I only have a glimmer of an idea where this stuff comes from. I know generally that it is the interaction of my deepest longings with the skilful manipulation built into marketing devices. But more particularly, it would be exhausting to chase every one of these interactions to their source within. And so I ignore, acquiesce or sometimes (rarely) even conquer. Seldom do I seek to understand. Until that happens, I will never be fully in control…

So… I’m struck by the power of myth, illustrated in both the glorious heights to which marketing gurus have taken this art and the extremes of fundamentalism in the world’s faiths. I am sad that the church has so gloriously failed to promote the best myth of all: Jesus. It surely is more healthy, both personally and globally. But we've made it safe and spiritual.

A simple choice: spend some time fasting from hamburgers, reading a little Gospel instead… mmm… make that to go.

Thank God for grace! The grace to recognise my frailty and vulnerability. Grace to find the strength to change my ways.