Paraphrase
- express the meaning of (the writer or speaker or something written or spoken) using different words, esp. to achieve greater clarity

Peterson’s reasoning for writing The Message:
“When Paul of Tarsus wrote a letter, the people who received it understood it instantly, When the prophet Isaiah preached a sermon, I can’t imagine that people went to the library to figure it out. That was the basic premise under which I worked. I began with the New Testament in the Greek — a rough and jagged language, not so grammatically clean. I just typed out a page the way I thought it would have sounded to the Galatians.”

***

John Piper provides some wise advice:
We ought to put right on the front of The Message, “A Paraphrase of the Bible,” and then it would be valuable! Everybody could read it and say, “This is Eugene Peterson’s interpretation of the Bible,” and we would get gobs of insight from it!

But if you start substituting that kind of effort for your regular, daily Bible reading translation, then you’re basically reading a commentary and depending on it and calling it the word of God.

I don’t buy into the view that “Since every translation involves paraphrase, therefore there’s no difference between a paraphrase and a translation.” We ought to distinguish, and we ought to publish both and make the reader aware of how he should use them.

***

I do keep a copy on my shelf and refer to it from time to time. The problem is that it is written in “modern” language…. but what was “modern” at the time of its writing is now starting to sound dated.

What do you think?
Do you use The Message?
Do you consider it equal with other translations (NIV, ESV, etc.)?
Should it be used for public readings?

Here are some highlights from Jonas:

“Global warming first surfaced as a scientific question, all but devoid of ideology. Today it’s an ideological position, all but devoid of science. What happened? Nothing, really: Science has revealed itself to be human.”

“Intellectual rigour may alleviate, but cannot alter, the fact that the objective findings of science are mediated through the subjective brains of scientists.”

“The starter’s gun went off. While Science was fiddling with its shoelaces, Ideology was halfway around the track.”

“Both sides had supporters among qualified scientists, although Greenies often questioned the bona fides of their Skeptic colleagues. Rabid Kyoto-propagandists coined the term “climate change denier” for skeptics to put doubts about global warming on the same footing as Holocaust denial. It was a stroke of genius and an admission of moral bankruptcy at the same time…”

Does Jonas come across like a grumpy old man? Yes, he does. Not because he wants to deny global warming, but because it has become “an ideological position, all but devoid of science.” Me too. The current conversation is hardly an exercise in seeking truth. Too many - both left and right - immediately jump on these hot topics (no pun intended) for their own gain, their own attempt to capture attention.

That is the bunk here. There is nothing wrong with embracing scientific truth; there is also nothing wrong with being skeptical of that which is based more on propaganda than science.

However, we have been sold on the idea that man-made global warming is an absolute fact. Haven’t we?

Busyness often steals my joy. It’s a temporary theft, but it is usually unnecessary. I start too many journeys – good, productive journeys – without first fully fueling up. As a result, I get to the finish line on fumes and collapse shortly after. I rest, not because I make a wise choice to do so but because I have no other choice: I MUST rest or I will become damaged.

It is interesting note that Jesus practiced solitude either before or after particularly engrossing encounters. In his book Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, Donald Whitney points out a number of instances in scripture where Jesus retreats to a time of solitude.

“To be like Jesus,” he says, “we must discipline ourselves to find times of silence and solitude. Then we can find the spiritual strength through these disciplines, as Jesus did.”

There is a proper relief of stress after these events, but there is also a temptation to treat oneself to “a few days off”. For me, after a week of sermon prep and preaching, a talk at a conference, or the successful completion of a large event, that means I am less task-oriented in the following week.

During a week of stress that culminates in accomplishment, I fall behind on all types of reading, and so I take the following week to read – online (blogs and other content) and offline (books, newspapers, etc.). But I suspect what I should be doing, rather than trying to catch up on what I’ve “missed”, is being still, engaging solitude, and also spending unstructured, goal-free time with Anne Marie and the girls.

“Goal-free” and “unstructured”. Normally, “goal-oriented” and “structured” are the two phrases that characterize my modus operandi, and for the most part this has served me well. But it is also a frequent source of pride. I DO get a lot done, and there is a lot of variety in what I accomplish, but I often forget whom I am doing it for.

Well, that’s not quite true – I often know very well that I am doing it for my own glory, my own reputation, my own fulfillment rather than doing it in such a way that at the end I can honestly say “To God be the glory”.

My own glory comes before God’s far too often, and at these times the scripture convicts me that says that we fall short of the glory of God. I fall short, not because there is no glory, but because I misappropriate it.

Other posts at The Ascent To Truth about worship:

Genre: “Jesus is My Girlfriend” 
Worship Wars: How Do We Determine Musical Excellence? 
Michael Spencer: “The Big Worship Goof” 
The Songleader as Servant 

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/michaelkrahn/~3/-UmQustuIcY/ http://michaelkrahn.com/blog/2009/11/04/the-medaille-house-journals-arrival/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:22:46 +0000 Michael Krahn medaille retreat house london password busy woods expecting http://michaelkrahn.com/blog/2009/11/04/the-medaille-house-journals-arrival/ ***This is the first post in a series that I will be publishing containing the writing I did while on retreat.  The writing included prose, spiritual reflection, and two new songs. I will post those as well. Enjoy.*** Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 Medaille Retreat House, London Ontario First impressions: The retreat house is just off Fanshawe Park Rd, which [...] ***This is the first post in a series that I will be publishing containing the writing I did while on retreat.  The writing included prose, spiritual reflection, and two new songs. I will post those as well. Enjoy.***

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Medaille Retreat House, London Ontario

First impressions:

The retreat house is just off Fanshawe Park Rd, which is a busy road in London. I wasn’t expecting that. I was expecting off in the woods, away from the noise, although from my room at the back of the house, overlooking a woods and a labyrinth, you’d never guess you were in a busy part of the city.

Carol the secretary showed Anne Marie, Olivia, Sophia, and me around the house when we got here. Although this is a retreat house run by The Sisters of St. Joseph, it is not overtly Catholic; other than the crucifixes it is not an explicitly “religious” place.

Breakfast is make-your-own at whatever time you like; lunch is 12pm sharp; supper is left in the fridge. Because there is no one else booked for these two days I will have the entire house to myself after 4pm. Sweet – I will do some songwriting then.

There is a TV here – an odd appliance to have at a “silence and solitude” retreat centre.  I may just make a vow now not to turn it on.

There is also wireless internet, but it’s password protected. I’m sure the password is given freely but I’ve decided not to ask for it. My email accounts have the vacation responders turned on and I have turned off the email on my phone. I am almost completely disconnected.

]]> http://michaelkrahn.com/blog/2009/11/04/the-medaille-house-journals-arrival/feed/ http://michaelkrahn.com/blog/2009/11/04/the-medaille-house-journals-arrival/

Comments?

I’m watching a live Q and A with Andrew Coyne over here.

The following question was just asked:
“Ever since your speech at Manning Networking Conference, I have wanted to hear more about how you are a socialist who believes in markets. How do you square that circle?”
by jolyon

Coyne’s answer:

“Very simply: markets are social institutions. They’re not simply the absence of government. They’re an alternate way of achieving social goals. Some things can only be done through government, notably achieving a just distribution of income, and we shouldn’t shy away from that. But some things are better achieved through markets, notably an efficient allocation of resources. The key is to let each institution do the thing it’s best at, and not “cross the wires.”

Give you an example: a whole generation of environmentalists has grown up understanding the market’s possibilities as an instrument for encouraging people to take better care of the environment (see “carbon taxes”.) There’s likewise every possibility to make better uses of markets in the provision of public services like health care and education — not out of hostility to their social goals, but as a way of delivering better public services.”

The question I submitted (which I’m pretty sure is not getting through) was, “Can Peter Mansbridge be any LESS objective when it comes to discussions of PM Harper? His disdain is not even veiled - it’s transparent.”

Mere coincidence you say? I believe that they may in fact be the SAME PERSON!

Think about it…

******

Other posts at The Ascent to Truth you might enjoy:

John MacArthur and Brian McLaren to Co-Author New Book

Tony Jones Finds Audience, Loses “Religion” 

It’s about two newborn baby birds and their mother. My favorite part (Olivia’s idea) is where the mother takes off to the roof of the Walmart for a party and stays out all night while her babies are hungry at home.

This is so exciting for me. Have a listen. Lyrics below if you want to follow along.

(right-click here to download the mp3)

Something Good
Written by Olivia Krahn and Michael Krahn (c) 2009

Mommy flew away to find some food
The babies stayed at home
The eggs were about to hatch
But mommy didn’t come back
Until the next morning

And when she came back two were waiting
Their mouths were open wide
Two new babies hatched in the nest
They had no food inside, and they said…

(chorus)
Give me berries, give me worms
Fill this empty tummy
Give me bugs, or give me twigs
I don’t care, just give me something good

Mommy filled their bellies, they felt so good
The babies felt at home
Mommy flew to Walmart
The party was about to start
She didn’t come back til morning

And when she came back two were waiting
Their mouths were open wide
Two new babies hatched in the nest
They had no food inside, and they said…

(chorus)
Give me berries, give me worms
Fill this empty tummy
Give me bugs, or give me twigs
I don’t care, just give me something good

On the “Christian Right”: “I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe.”

On his respect for Doug Wilson: “I much prefer this sincerity to the vague and Python-esque witterings of the interfaith and ecumenical groups who barely respect their own traditions and who look upon faith as just another word for community organizing.”

I am rarely disappointed when reading Hitchens.  There is always something of note in what he writes. He is a far more honest and articulate adversary than Dawkins.

Carson: Know what the gospel is first, comprehensively, accurately, faithfully. Work out from there. Learn to preach to your own people, not to the aggregates set out in books by Barna and Wuthnow (though much can be learned from such books). Whether the “engagement” is part of how you engage people evangelistically, or part of how Christians in your church do good in your own community, keep thinking through what the Bible itself says — and then try, like the men of Issachar, to understand your own times.

John Piper: “Writing became the lever of my thinking and the outlet of my feelings. If I didn’t pull the lever, the wheel of thinking did not turn. It jerked and squeaked and halted. But once a pen was in hand, or a keyboard, the fog began to clear and the wheel of thought began to spin with clarity and insight.

Arthur Krystal: “Like most writers, I seem to be smarter in print than in person. In fact, I am smarter when I’m writing. I don’t claim this merely because there is usually no one around to observe the false starts and groan-inducing sentences that make a mockery of my presumed intelligence, but because when the work is going well, I’m expressing opinions that I’ve never uttered in conversation and that otherwise might never occur to me. Nor am I the first to have this thought, which, naturally, occurred to me while composing. According to Edgar Allan Poe, writing in Graham’s Magazine, ‘Some Frenchman—possibly Montaigne—says: ‘People talk about thinking, but for my part I never think except when I sit down to write.’ I can’t find these words in my copy of Montaigne, but I agree with the thought, whoever might have formed it. And it’s not because writing helps me to organize my ideas or reveals how I feel about something, but because it actually creates thought or, at least supplies a Petri dish for its genesis.”

HT: JT

Kevin was one of those guys I wasn’t going to go anywhere near. He was a little creepy. I remember a certain Alice Cooper lip sync performance that cemented my opinion of him at the time.

I didn’t reconnect - or should I say connect - with Kevin until a couple of years ago when we were at the same church. Somehow, I don’t remember exactly, we were connected by someone who knew that Kevin was a writer and that I was into writing as well. I asked Kevin if I could see his writing, fully expecting it to be a caliber of writing I could look over and then give some pointers to its author. That wasn’t the case.

In my arrogance I was surprised to learn that Kevin already was what I aspired to be - a real writer. How could HE (Alice Cooper guy) have surpassed ME (wasn’t allowed to listen to Alice Cooper guy) in a discipline that I have work pretty hard at?

But that’s kind of the point here. Kevin Abell has been given a gift, one in addition to the grace of God in his life. That gift is writing. I say this because the writing is good, and its not good because he spends time at writing conferences, or at a booksellers conventions, or even in a bookstores for that matter. Kevin is a mechanic. Kevin is a father of four. Most of his time is spent on those two things.

The genesis of The Edge Of His Cloak is a series of letters (in the form of email) written to his church youth group - and anyone else who was willing to read - a few years ago. In these letters he writes about a range of things, but they all have the common thread of a writer - Kevin Abell - whose life has been transformed by meeting and deciding to follow Jesus Christ. The letters are pep talks in a way, but not the type of pep talks that ignore reality and always end with “Everything is going to be OK.” These pep talks go something like this: “Life is tough. And not just for you - FOR EVERYBODY! Here’s the only thing I’ve found that actually helps me get through life and gives me real joy.”

“And one request-” Abell asks, “if you don’t intend to live for Him, please don’t identify yourself with Him. There are few things as distasteful as a believer who insists on living a life of disobedience… Perhaps for some of us, the most spiritual thing we can do is tell our friends that we are serious idolaters.”

Abell possesses a strength of faith and a clarity of thought that is not only endearing, but also admirable. The book is a remarkable testament of a faith that is both simple and profound; it is a glimpse into the everyday life and extraordinary faith of a mechanic, father, writer, and ordinary Christ-follower. But most of all this is the glorious autobiography of someone who has seen the risen Savior, been wrecked in his gaze, and embraced the only source of true healing. “I don’t hate myself anymore,” Abell says in a chapter titled “Ongoing Counseling”, “I’ve graduated from self loathing to merely having an inferiority complex. Who knows for sure? Perhaps in 20 years or so I might begin to toy with self confidence.”

Obviously humor is prominent in the book and Abell’s sense and placement of it is good. Dry wit is a strength, both in real life and on the page. Like Donald Miller, he is more willing than most of us to recognize his own shortcomings and then to make light of them. In Abell’s own words,

“I like being this mildly reclusive sarcastic individual who uses his sardonic wit to keep people at bay. Because if I tell people what I actually think and if I say it in a straightforward manner, they might not like what they see.”

From a professional publishing perspective, there are things about the book that need some work. The grammar is not always perfect; the punctuation at times is odd.  Despite those things, this is the most professional looking self-published book I’ve seen. In fact it doesn’t look self-published at all.

Despite these few shortcomings, Kevin’s book succeeds at this: (to paraphrase Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets) it “makes me want to be a better man” - and in this case, a better writer as well.

And just so you don’t think Kevin traded a free book for a good review… I paid my $15 bucks for this book, and so should you. It will be well worth your time. Buy it here: Amazon.

(click here to view if the video does not appear in your browser) As lyrics go this is one of those songs that could just as easily be sung to a girlfriend/boyfriend as to Jesus, existing in the ever-expanding “Jesus Is My Girlfriend” genre. This genre is defined as song or songs that “mean to appeal to an audience outside of typical listeners of CCM by replacing “Jesus” with “You” in hopes of making the Christian content of the song less obvious to non-Christian listeners.” (def’n found here)

Take out the line “I’ve got a Saviour and He’s living in me” and “What The World Will Never Take” is one of those songs:

Check this out. Read it without assuming its about Jesus:

With all I’m holding inside
With all my hopes and desires
And all the dreams that I’ve dreamt

With all I’m hoping to be
And all that the world will bring
And all that fails to compare

You say you want all of me
I wouldn’t have it any other way

I wanna know
I wanna know you today

And You’re the best thing that has happened to me
And the world will never take
The world will never take you away

No-one could ever take you away

The “live” version above strays from the recorded version and makes the message a bit clearer - lyrically at least. And don’t get me wrong, as a song and a rock video it succeeds admirably. It’s catchy, well-played, and professionally edited. I’m just not sure I want to play it as part of a worship service at church.

Draw Me Close (seen below) is even worse. Take a look:

(click here to view if the video does not appear in your browser)Again, read it without assuming its about Jesus:

Draw me close to you
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear you say that I’m your friend

Help me find a way to bring me back to you

Chorus:

You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want,
Help me know you are near

You are my desire
No one else will do
Cause no one else
Can take your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace

Help me find a way to bring me back to you

Chorus:
You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want,
Help me know you are near

What do you think? Do I have a point or am I just getting old?

(As a side note, and in the “even more obvious” department, what do you think this shot of Brooke Fraser, Hillsong United’s female member, is selling? Discussion needed? I think not… and we used to think Amy Grant in a leopard-print blazer was racy.)

“Dude!” indeed.

Without the active intervention of my will, the types of things my heart most easily treasures are funny quotes. More specifically, funny quotes that have double meanings. Even more specifically, double meanings that are often far from innocent in nature.

I find a show like The Office very appealing to my treasure-seeking senses.  At the same time, I know that when I watch it I am storing up the wrong kind of treasure in my heart and that this treasure will work its way out of my heart, revealing to those around me exactly what I’m storing up in there.

Dropping “That’s what she said…” into a conversation at opportune times – of which there seem to be an abundance – is hilarious, yes, but what does it reveal about what I’m storing up in my heart? In Matthew 12:34 Jesus says that the mouth finds things to say out of what is most dominant or most treasured in our hearts. Sometimes the dominant treasure in my heart is all too easy to see.

It’s almost like my brain has a checklist it goes through before responding to a statement or question:
* First Option: Is there even a remote chance that replying, “That’s what she said…” will make sense as a reply and turn an innocent statement or question into an opportunity for a laugh? If yes, reply. If no…
* Second Option: Can I reply with something else that will get a laugh? If yes, reply. If no…
* Third Option: Answer the person’s question or statement directly.

That’s really quite pitiful and reveals more about my heart than I wanted to know. Chances are you haven’t heard me reply to a question this way because I only really do it when conversing with another person I know is familiar with The Office and is in on the “That’s what she said…” game.

But this is one of the many ways scripture serves us: written thousands of years ago, it comforts us in current afflictions, gives light to current events, and yes it even convicts us about current TV shows that it would probably be better for our souls not to watch.

Read Matthew 12:33-37 and tell me what it says to you. These words from that passage are ringing very loudly in my ears right now: “On the day of judgment people will give account of every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

“That’s what He said…” and it should probably scare us a little bit.

Million Miles author stops in LR

JESSICA CLARK ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

A New York Times bestselling author says he knows the ingredients to a meaningful life and he’s sharing them Tuesday in Little Rock.

Recently, Donald Miller hit the road to talk about his newest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life, which chronicles Miller’s discoveries. The book tour will span two months and tens of thousands of miles, during which Miller will visit 65 cities.

Miller will make a stop in Little Rock at Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas to share what he says makes a worthwhile life, which he learned from screenwriters while working on turning Blue Like Jazz into a movie which will premiere in 2010.

“Screenwriters have discovered what makes life meaningful because they have to put it on-screen in a movie. I’ll share what it is they’ve discovered and how I applied those principles to my life and what happened because of it,” he said.

Mosaic Church was contacted by Miller’s executive assistant with the idea of being a host for the book tour. Mark DeYmaz, Mosaic Church’s directional leader, said it was a good fit because the church and Miller have a “missional mind-set” and live out their faith.

“It’s not about attracting people to the church, it is about motivating the church to go to people where they are in bars, college campuses or wherever,” DeYmaz said. “Miller lives out a missional lifestyle and is authentic with people that wouldn’t step into a church.”

Miller, 37, had been writing since he was a child, he said. His first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance, was published by Harvest House Publishers, but it wasn’t until he wrote Blue Like Jazz that his writing career took off. Published by Thomas Nelson, a Christian book publisher, Blue Like Jazz has sold more than 1 million copies and made The New York Times best-seller list 45 weeks since it was released six years ago. It is a book made up of essays about spirituality and his reflections about Christianity.

Miller says his new release offers readers a different perspective. “In other books I was asking a lot of questions, in this book there is more hope,” he said.

“His early stuff is like unedited journal writing, but he gets more controlled and precise as he goes,” Christianity Today freelance writer Patton Dodd said. “He expertly and naturally captures the young evangelical zeitgeist [spirit of the age], but he pushes on its borders.”

“The best thing about Miller’s books is that they throw you into a torrent of self-reflection with the strangest of motivation,” said Michael Krahn, a Canadian minister and blogger. “There are no guilt trips, no commands, just Miller taking a brutally honest look at his own life and writing about it and somehow this inspires us to do the same.”

In his new book, Miller adapts the elements that make a good movie into his own life to make it more interesting.

“In studying the elements of a screenplay and editing a movie based on a memoir [Blue Like Jazz], I was editing a fictional version of myself. I wanted my own life to be more like the fictional version of me so I made some changes in my own life and rode my bike across America.”

Miller spent seven weeks riding his bike across the United States raising money for Blood: Water Mission. He also found his biological father whom he hadn’t heard from in 30 years and he hiked the Inca Trail in Peru just to impress a girl.

“A Million Miles is probably Don’s most mature book, yet it is classic Don Miller in that it offers readers an entertaining, one-of-a-kind experience,” his publisher, Brian Hampton, said.

The focus of Miller’s book tour is to get people to realize that “we can live better stories, and when the credits roll in our lives we can have a sense of fulfillment and meaning because of what we’ve experienced,” he said.

After the tour, Miller will work with his nonprofit organization, The Mentoring Project. The Portland, Ore.-based group mentors children growing up without fathers.

“We’ll be releasing a revised edition of Searching for God Knows What next spring and further down the road there will be another book,” Hampton said.

“I believe my best stories are ahead of me. I don’t think I’ve told many good ones so far,” Miller said. “Since I’ve understood the power of a story, the power of a good protagonist wanting something noble and overcoming conflict to get it, I haven’t been able to go back to a normal life.”

“An Evening With Donald Miller” will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at Mosaic Church, 6420 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. Tickets are $15. More information is available at amillionmiles.com.

I am finding this to be true in my (so far limited) experience as well:“People say that the preachers stand in their pulpits and preach their sermons, but that there before them are individuals with their individual problems and sufferings. So the argument runs, you ought to preach less and spend more time doing personal work and counseling and interviewing.

My reply to this argument is to suggest, once more, that the answer is to put preaching into the primary position. Why? For this reason that true preaching does deal with personal problems, so much so that true preaching saves a great deal of time for the pastor. I am speaking out of forty years of experience. What do I mean? Let me explain.

The Puritans are justly famous for their pastoral preaching. They would take up what they called ‘cases of conscience’ and deal with them in their sermons; and as they dealt with these problems they were solving the personal individual problems of those who were listening to them. That has constantly been my experience. The preaching of the Gospel from the pulpit, applied by the Holy Spirit to the individuals who are listening, has been the means of dealing with personal problems of which I as the preacher knew nothing until people came to me at the end of the service saying, ‘I want to thank you for that sermon because if you had known I was there and the exact nature of my problem, you could not have answered my various questions more perfectly. I have often thought of bringing them to you but you have now answered them without doing so.’

The preaching had already dealt with the personal problems. Do not misunderstand me, I am not saying that the preacher should never do any personal work; far from it. But I do contend that preaching must always come first, and that it must not be replaced by anything else.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching & Preachers, p.37

HT: Aaron Armstrong

“Our celebrity worship has finally reached its logical conclusion. For years celebrities could beat their partners, go on drug-fueled rampages, drive drunk and escape serious consequences. We considered that acceptable, so long as they stayed rich, famous and available for public display. We’ve watched human beings destroy themselves in real time before our very eyes, and took no action other than driving up network ratings and tabloid sales. In this world of celebrity, everyone now gets one rape for free.”

A sad but too accurate indictment of us all. We are entertained by evil and titillated by the carnage in another human’s life so long as they are in that holiest of human categories: Celebrity.

Knowing this, drama is often manufactured by celebrity handlers, reported by tabloids, and lapped up by people standing in grocery lines and sitting wide-eyed in their living rooms taking in the day’s summary of out-of-control, substance addicted, fornicating celebs - their oh-so-sexy images paraded across the screen.

And so it goes. You become a fan. You buy into the drama: good girl loses her way, becomes bad girl, falls into addiction and abuse, goes away for a while, comes back whole and clean and pure, makes a movie and an album. You buy it, thinking “Wow, she’s been through a lot…” And she has: a lot of handling, a lot of drugs, a lot of pretending - but this is no reason for you to keep your place as an enabler.

Most of the life you watch IS the script itself, an orchestrated live action drama they hope to keep in perpetual view while shaking you down for nickels and dimes. Their pictures on lunchboxes, their voices in McDonald’s, their images on billboards. In truth, no shakedown is needed; we are eager to take our wallets out and purchase their image, their essence.

Celebrity: a person we celebrate. You’d think we’d spend more time celebrating dignity. What is it that makes us celebrate the opposite?