“They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them.” 2 Kings 15:17
I am not a Taylor Swift fan. I don’t know her music save the few snippets of songs played between innings at Truist Park in Atlanta. Our holiday in England opened my eyes to the popularity bordering on idol-worship afforded this young woman.
Taylor was playing five concerts at Wembley Stadium in London during our stay in London. Each evening 90,000 fans made their way to the stadium hours early to be ready for their hero. We met people on our flight from the USA heading to London for the concert. One girl told us she paid $8,000 for a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert. This was going to be her third concert.
All over London we saw Swifties, dressed in their concert t-shirts or outfits made to mimic Taylor’s costumes. Children, young women, middle aged women–all dressed to emulate the superstar. My frugal, judgmental mind jumped into action. How could they spend so much time and money on one evening where they would hardly be close enough to even see her? Why dress young children to aspire to parade around in attire completely contrary to everything women say they want to overthrow in our modern society?
Friday night my husband had reserved special seats for us to attend a different concert. We exchanged our tired, rumpled “let’s walk nine miles around London all day” clothes for more suitable attire and took the tube toward Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. After a delightful meal, we took the DLR to Pudding Mill Lane where we caught our first glimpse of the ABBA Experience Arena.
The ABBA Arena opened in London in 2022 for the sole purpose of hosting a virtual concert by the Swedish pop group ABBA. ABBA was popular in the 70’s and being of Swedish heritage myself, they were one of my favorite groups. Their world-wide popularity can still be seen in an arena that holds 3,000 people and is sold out night after night.
We entered the mobbed arena and saw hundreds of people–middle aged and old and even young people–dressed like the members of ABBA. Men in ruffled shirts, women in long white boots, jumpsuits, floral crowns. In truth even I had chosen to wear a peasant style top to be in keeping with the evening. My judgmental mind had to turn on itself.
We were not so different, the Swifties and the ABBA fans. At least Taylor was real, if difficult to see. ABBA appeared just as they had in 1979, not one of them had aged a bit, because it was all fake. The technology was real and amazing, I certainly would have believed they were there had I not known the truth. The holographic images danced and sang and joked with each other and appeared so real it was easy to think they were truly there. But they were not.
I think that’s why God warns us against idols. Idols can be anything from an image to an idea to a person one adores with blind devotion, admiration and adoration. Idols lead us to place more importance on them than on the things that are real in our lives, especially the reality of the God of the universe.
The ABBA Experience group appeared to be there, but no life was in them. They appeared to be singing, but they had no voice. They had no substance and no power. God, whom we do not see physically, has voice through the Bible, substance through Jesus and ultimate creative and loving power. God is no idol, He is truth. He deserves our devotion and admiration and adoration. He will not lead us astray or in a destructive path, but will lead us in a path of truth and life.
Think how different our world would be if we all spent as much time and money and energy and devotion on the things of God. If the lyrics in our head were about loving our neighbor, speaking the truth in love, giving freely to the poor and needy, honoring our parents and loving our children and spouses. I want to encourage you to spend more time with God this week. When you might have watched something or played something take some time to look into one of the gospels and ponder who God is. Take a walk outside and think about the God who created the heavens and the earth. My prayer is that it will change your perspective and bring you closer to the truth.
Since my surgery three weeks ago, I’ve been feeling better each day and have even done a little baking. My husband has taken such good care of me I decided to make him an old favorite. I still cannot swallow cookies, but he assures me that this recipe is a win. These cookies are a bit fragile and taste best within the first few days of baking. They are a light, cinnamon dusted taste of fall.
Snickerdoodles
- 1/2 cup crsico
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 3/4 cups Gold Medal Flour
Heat oven to 400*. Mix shortening, sugar and eggs.
Add tartar, soda and salt and flour. Stir well. Dough should be of such a texture that you can roll it into walnut sized balls.
Roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture (2 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon mixed in a small ball). Place balls on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 7 minutes until lightly browned. Cookies will puff then flatten out as they cool. Eat these warm and quickly, they will harden over time. You can bake these cookies longer and come out with a crunchy cookie that would be more in keeping with a British style biscuit (cookie). My family prefers them soft.
