HIS PAST FALL MY OLDEST HAD A GRAND TIME PLAYING WITH A BUNDLE of helium-filled balloons while the rest of the birthday-party-goers sang with a Hannah Montana impersonator hired by the girl’s parents. Despite not engaging much during the party’s Montana moments, a few days later, upon seeing an in-store billboard, my daughter excitedly told her sister, “Look, see that girl? That’s Hannah Montana. She was at [friend’s] birthday party! She’s cool!” It’s not surprising that she knew who it was—to my astonishment the party room had been wallpapered with everything Montana. A person would have had to miss the party to miss the blond-wigged teen icon.
But other than occasional interest, my children have not surrendered themselves to any commercialized, money-grabbing machines (I mean fads). That time will come—too quickly, I think—when what I try to teach them will have to contend with outside influences and interests. I’m not walking through dark “New Moon” woods yet, but I’d have to be dead not to realize it’s coming.
I still have my own struggles; now I also feel as if I’m at a corner—and turning back is not an option. Will I have to gear up and fight as offerings of the predominant culture threaten to flatten me and run rampant around my family?
Yes. But not alone. As a Christian I have God. I have hope, grace, and joy with which to move forward. I have prayer, and His Word, and am especially armed with this advice: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8). I don’t need earplugs, blinders, or flaming torches. I have God—and He must be enough.
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Kimberly Luste Maran is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review. This article was published January 21, 2010.
