If you are, like me, a radio listener, you may have heard the radio ads for Goodyear tires, in which there is a discussion about "tire amnesia," defined as being unaware of what kind of tire you have on your cars. It is, I assume, intended to be humorous, but it is annoying in a specific manner that is really hard to ignore. It is annoying because it is simply silly.
Tire amnesia? So, the theory is that we ought to constantly have in our minds the type of tire on our vehicle. Why? I have four vehicles (children growing up and all). I am supposed to remember all the tire types? Why?
This is one of those ads that could not be used in a more rational time period, in which people knew what did and did not matter. No one would find it funny because it is too stupid to be funny.
We fill our lives with this kind of nonsense, I think. Wives are often angry if their husbands do not remember the names of their children's teachers at school. Why? I have no idea. Apparently, they think that knowing names of teachers is somehow proof of love or some other nonsense, as opposed to proving love by providing for a family and remembering things that are really important.
People expect us to remember so much fluff in our lives. Our culture loves birthdays (many cultures more reasonably do not), so we are expected to remember birthdays. Why? Just for the "fun" of it, I suppose. We have calendars so we want to use them. If we did not have calendars, we would not care about birthdays at all. Or anniversaries or any other date that has no significance in our lives. My marriage is important, the date on which the wedding occurred is meaningless.
Tire amnesia.
How many of us remember things that really matter? People who know all their children's teachers' names may not remember what the children need to eat everyday or how to hold them when they are hurt or how to teach them to live lives of service to God.
My mind, I fear, is filled with things of no real importance, of no spiritual value. I know football schedules and bank passwords and recipes and shirt sizes and what kind of pizza my son will eat. I am regularly reminded that I am supposed to remember all the members of my classes and their children's names and birthdays and where they work and what happened last year when one of them was sick. I am told that I should pay attention to political candidates and federal politics and international affairs and what is happening to a small group of people living in a country I will never visit. I am required, in my job, to remember laws and regulations and cases and clients and deadlines and methods of work. I have passwords and codes and memory verses and names and noise and theme songs from old TV shows rattling around in my brain, amongst all the other things I am "supposed" to remember.
I wish more of us would embrace not only "tire amnesia" but lots of other forms of amnesia as well. I wish that we could fill our minds with eternal truths rather than temporal fears. I wish that we could fill our minds with the greatness of what God has given us rather than the vanity of our politics, sports, news, and entertainment.
Tire amnesia? So, the theory is that we ought to constantly have in our minds the type of tire on our vehicle. Why? I have four vehicles (children growing up and all). I am supposed to remember all the tire types? Why?
This is one of those ads that could not be used in a more rational time period, in which people knew what did and did not matter. No one would find it funny because it is too stupid to be funny.
We fill our lives with this kind of nonsense, I think. Wives are often angry if their husbands do not remember the names of their children's teachers at school. Why? I have no idea. Apparently, they think that knowing names of teachers is somehow proof of love or some other nonsense, as opposed to proving love by providing for a family and remembering things that are really important.
People expect us to remember so much fluff in our lives. Our culture loves birthdays (many cultures more reasonably do not), so we are expected to remember birthdays. Why? Just for the "fun" of it, I suppose. We have calendars so we want to use them. If we did not have calendars, we would not care about birthdays at all. Or anniversaries or any other date that has no significance in our lives. My marriage is important, the date on which the wedding occurred is meaningless.
Tire amnesia.
How many of us remember things that really matter? People who know all their children's teachers' names may not remember what the children need to eat everyday or how to hold them when they are hurt or how to teach them to live lives of service to God.
My mind, I fear, is filled with things of no real importance, of no spiritual value. I know football schedules and bank passwords and recipes and shirt sizes and what kind of pizza my son will eat. I am regularly reminded that I am supposed to remember all the members of my classes and their children's names and birthdays and where they work and what happened last year when one of them was sick. I am told that I should pay attention to political candidates and federal politics and international affairs and what is happening to a small group of people living in a country I will never visit. I am required, in my job, to remember laws and regulations and cases and clients and deadlines and methods of work. I have passwords and codes and memory verses and names and noise and theme songs from old TV shows rattling around in my brain, amongst all the other things I am "supposed" to remember.
I wish more of us would embrace not only "tire amnesia" but lots of other forms of amnesia as well. I wish that we could fill our minds with eternal truths rather than temporal fears. I wish that we could fill our minds with the greatness of what God has given us rather than the vanity of our politics, sports, news, and entertainment.