Introduction
This is the beginning of a series of Lessons I am now introducing, that is based on my study of our Celebrity
culture in general, and our
mass media in particular. There is no doubt in my mind, that the Media plays a powerful part in influencing our beliefs and attitudes to life and situations.
Through the media we are given access to the kind of people, ideas, trends,
fashion and leaders of industry, that we are encouraged to admire. We receive from our media, daily images of proposed role models whom we are urged to imitate, and characters we are required to emulate. We are given regular doses of the lives of such
famous people, what they do, how much they earn, what they wear, where they live, what they eat, how much they weigh, how they spend money, what exercises they do, how they handle their relationships, their marriages, and their charity work and cultural beliefs. We are bombarded with images of 'the perfect
physical body', 'the perfect couple', 'the perfect mum', 'the perfect family man', 'the perfect diet', 'the perfect outfit', 'the perfect hairstyle' and so on..
For those who don't know what Celebville means, its referring to the entire celebrity universe. 'Celebrity' is described in the
English dictionary as:-
the state or quality of being widely honoured and acclaimed.
A 'celebrity' is described as:-
a person of considerable prominence, a widely known person, a famous person or a person of notoriety.
For the purposes of this discussion, I want to take a closer look at the word notoriety:
'notoriety' is described as the state of being known for some unfavourable act or quality.
As I walk past the magazine racks at my local supermarket, I am confronted with images of celebrities, many of them with headlines varying from the mildly shocking to the downright scandalous, and I become very quickly aware of the not so subtle demarcation between popularity and notoriety, especially where fame and celebrity are concerned. In fact the line is so flimsy, you could so easily miss it; and perhaps that is the intention, that there shouldn't be any difference, because the difference no longer really matter.
I find this very curious, because for whom does the difference between, fame, popularity and notoriety not matter?
Jesus Christ is world famous and widely known, so is
Adolf Hitler, but for clearly different reasons.In this example are we to then conclude that the difference between fame and notoriety does not matter? I we to emulate Hitler simply because he had a magnetic personality and was well known? Many people in his time obviously did, or he could not have risen to so much prominence.
I still remember a time in my youth when role models and people of prominence were people we looked up to because of their moral and ethical example, because of their exceptional beauty, attribute or distinguishable quality of spirit in some area. Perhaps they had a special gift for music, literature, art, performing, comedy, dance, and entertainment that reminded you of heaven. Perhaps they had exceptional knowledge and skill regarding taking care of the physical body, the mind and the emotions, perhaps they had an exceptional eye for design, fashion, architecture, or perhaps they made a scientific contribution that could affect millions of lives in a positive way; whatever the attribute of their fame, it was generally down to something unique, divine, heavenly, wholesome, and beneficial to the greater good of all. Therein lies the important difference for me.
'Celebrity' is taken from the word 'Celebrate' which means : to extol or praise and make widely known, to respect and rejoice in. It follows, that the subject of the fame or celebrity etc that I aspire to emulate, should exude a quality or attribute that is divinely wholesome, harmonious and beneficial to the greater good. In short, it should remind me of
Godliness. Anything less does not deserve the attribute of world recognition and critical acclaim, or celebrity status.
Now having cleared up the difference between genuine fame and notoriety, what then are the life lessons to be learnt from our current celebrity culture as we know it today?
Sometimes when people visit my home, they are surprised by the number of OK and Hello magazines they see lying around, I love reading about celebrity life and generally read any magazines I can get my hands on like the
National Enquirer, New, Closer, Grazier and so on. I check the features and the fashion pages and I have my own set of favourite celebrities whose lives I follow. Some would say this was an unusual characteristic, and rather out of character for a Church minister, or spiritual mentor such as myself to be reading the gossip magazines. But is it? Let's take a closer look.
I know for example that many of the people who look to me for Spiritual Coaching and counselling have aspirations to be like their favourite stars or celebrities. They want to be just as successful, or as beautiful, or as talented, or as rich, or as esteemed as these celebrities. And many are asking themselves questions like 'what is it that...(name of celebrity)...has that I don't have'? 'What is it that they do, that I don't do?', 'What is it that they know that I don't know, in short what is their secret formula?' Unfortunately the real answers to these questions are not in the tabloid magazines. What we get in the magazines can often be confusing and misleading in that on the one hand we receive images of stunning looking people, well groomed, living in multi-million pound homes, and experiencing the quality of material life that the other 90 percent of the population only dream of, while on the other hand exhibiting a severe inability to manage the very basic elements of life illustrated by turbulent or broken relationships, alcohol and drug related abuse, marriage breakdowns, sexual promiscuity, cheating scandals, obsession with plastic surgery, fad diets, body image problems, mental health problems, workaholism, deva behaviour and pridefulness, bitchiness and jealousy, distrust and backbiting, lack of privacy, paparazzi harassment, betrayal as in leaking and selling stories to the press, greed, family relationship problems, and relentless addiction to fame.
We are often left in two minds by the media, about our celebrities. In general we feel admiration for their wealth, accomplishments and popularity on the one hand, and yet on the other hand we feel dismay, let down, disappointment or even pity, for what seems like a relentless inability or unwillingness on the part of so many celebrities to get their own private lives in order. I can just hear you thoughts to your choice celebrity along the lines of '' Come on mate, you've got everything it takes to enjoy life, so just get your act together and be happy. Stop being such an ungrateful spoilt deva. Behave yourself, settle down, get married, do some charity work, and thank God for all your many blessings. Stop all the useless drug and alcohol abuse, the cheating scandals, the inappropriate relationships, and just be a REAL star that I can really look up to! I'm counting on you, so don't let me down, get it all right 100%''
But can our celebrities of choice really have it ALL together, though? And if not, then why not? What's the missing ingredient? Is there something else going on here, that all the career success, all the money, all the public adulation, all the molly cuddling and attention, all the awards, designer clothes and expensive jewellery simply cannot buy?
I will boldly put it another way. Why can't beautiful women like Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Sharon Stone, have the kind of loving lasting relationships that they truly treasure and can deeply trust, with children included? Why can't powerful women like Oprah Winfrey, Kirstie Alley, Queen Latifah and Mariah Carey keep their body weight constant?
Then looking at male stars, why is it that attractive men like George Clooney, and Simon Cowell have difficulty committing themselves to marriage and children? And why can't gorgeous stars like Naomi Campbell and Russell Crowe stop losing their temper? What are celebrities like Nicole Ritchie, Paris Hilton, and Heidi Montag really famous for anyway and why do talented stars like Madonna, Lady Gaga, Britany Spears, Beyonce Knowles, Rhianna, feel the need to keep stretching the limits of provocative decency in their music videos? And I haven't even started yet on the cheating revelations of Tiger Woods, Mick Jagger, Jude Law, Jessie... (Sandra Bullock's husband). If these are indeed the lives of our celebrities, the people we are supposed to aspire to be like, then what is really missing here? What is the reality?
The answer I believe lies in Spiritual Awakening. Enlightenment brings understanding. A true celebrity is an enlightened one. the mark of a genuine celebrity is their ability to remind you of something far greater and more meaningful than the mundane, while still remaining rooted in the mundane. A true celebrity is one who reminds you of heaven, while keeping his or her feet on the ground here on earth. A true celebrity has the ability to bring some aspect of heaven down to earth, in such a ways as to impact millions of people in a positive way. A true role model is one that is spiritually attuned, spiritually awakened, and conscious of the Divine Nature.
Spiritual attunement is a gift of Grace. It is freely endowed by God, and is given to those who ask and seek it. Freely endowed means that it is not up for sale, and so can not be bought, because it has no price. You can't put a price on enlightenment, therefore you can neither buy nor sell it. You can merely ask for it, then humbly and graciously receive it thus. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the excellent example of a true celebrity, famous for all the right reasons. There are many well known names in the scriptures both male and female, that would be considered famous celebrities in today's world. they include Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Saul, David, Joseph, Mary, Mary Magdalene, the apostles and disciples. Naturally My favourite celebrities are those who have made a direct contribution to the raising of ethical and moral consciousness on our planet, and have aroused us to greater love and respect for all life, and they are numerous. Just in the media and entertainment industry alone, here are some modern day celebrities that I have admired: Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Cliff Richards, Tracy Chapman, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lisa Kudrow, Steadman Graham, Jamie Oliver, Bob Marley, to name a few of them. In other areas of endeavour their are people like; Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, President Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, Mother Teresa, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Reverend Martin Luther King, and many many more, especially in the fields of religious and spiritual education, charity work, the arts, literature and music.
To see more examples of Famous people I follow and admire, for their spiritual contributions please click here:
Rev.Bola's*LOVING PEOPLE*
http://www.aartisans.homepagestartup.com/?t=8096
Conclusion:
Every single human being is important to God, no matter their status, background, upbringing, cultural heritage, economic, social or political status. That includes you, that includes me, and that includes every celebrity that has ever lived, and every non-celebrity that has ever lived.The plain fact is that God loves each one of us with an unlimited, unshakable, unconditional, everlasting Love beyond our fathomable understanding. God always has, and always will. This is good news for you, and good news for the celebrity. Aspiring to be celebrated, as a renowned and famous person of is an honourable, wonderful and exciting purpose when aligned with the Higher Divine Will. Only then do you have the opportunity of truly touching the lives of millions of others in a most profound and uplifting way. Divine success (backed by God) creates more success for all, Divine wealth (backed by God) creates even more wealth for everyone. It can only be wondrous and good for everyone to be blessed with an abundance of what they need, materially and spiritually. Pick our role models with wisdom, based on the divine qualities and attributes, and not on notoriety. Love yourself as you are now, wherever you may be. on the path of life. You too can be a role model right now, for those around you today.
To God most high, you are ....a most majestic creation. A beautiful, illuminating, light stream of pure, utter bliss and love. Remember that, always.
written by Rev.Bola A.
(copyrite: 20.5.10 -ARR)
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