Poster myths.
written by Julie R. Neidlinger 4 comments link this post-- Matthew 16:25
I've seen this video, the "Last Lecture" video of a dying professor, about six times recently; the blogosphere is filled with people posting it.
It's powerful.
Much of it I found myself nodding my head at. I appreciate his comments on attitude, and know I need to work on that. But then the end came around, the last part where the idea of karma and dreams coming to fulfillment, that set off the little warning bell in my head.
It's the same uneasiness I feel whenever I see the posters teachers hang in classrooms, or the books or pamphlets or slogans that are so often ingrained in the minds of youth and adults alike. Here are a few I've noticed:
- Believe in yourself.
- Pursue your dreams.
- Don't let anyone stop you from achieving your dreams/goals.
- Don't be bound by what you can't do/You can do anything you set your mind to!
- Education is the place where dreams become a reality.
They're wrong.
They are myths on posters, insistent on telling us how we must be if we are to be healthy humans.
I know why they are used, certainly I do. The intention is good. It's to get people to not hate themselves, to try things that are difficult and outside of their comfort zone, to encourage effort and leaps of faith and a life fully lived. It's to give a kid an ounce of confidence when she doesn't have any.
But what they say is wrong.
It's not the truth.
There is no benefit in either extremes of existence, one of which is extreme self-belief and love and self-esteem, the other of which is wallowing in self-loathing to the point of excuse for inaction. Using one extreme to pry us out of the other doesn't touch the core issue which is, quite simply: less of me, more of Christ.
Believe in yourself?
Putting my belief in myself is laughable. What does it mean to believe in myself, anyway? What do I believe in, when I sign up for such a belief? Why should I esteem myself beyond what Christ has done for me and, now, in me? The important thing, in any situation, is never me.
Self believing in self is like recirculating water. It never grows fresh, but becomes stale. Mistaking the movement of the recirculation for freshness is foolish; it is already used, already a stagnant source. Pouring my belief and trust and hope back into myself is pouring old water back into the pool to become the source yet again. I must empty myself out of my dreams and pursuits, and watch as God pours back in what He has planned. I must let God be my source for worth and goals and dreams and direction. I am filled to overflowing with new, fresh, living water when I let Him do that.
My value cannot be found from me looking within, cannot be increased by platitudes telling me I'm "worth something." I am worth enough for Christ to die for me. There is my value. Nothing of such great value is found within me. My value comes not from me, nor from what dreams and goals I achieve. My value is found, quite simply, in Christ. He died for me. That is value that cannot be surpassed.
Pursue my dreams?
I ought to be encouraged to pursue God, the giver of dreams. Why pursue the created when the Creator is waiting? Am I ever satisfied when I achieve a goal or dream, or does it feed the drive for me to get more? What should I be pursuing?
Don't let anyone stop me from achieving my goals?
It sounds good but it often ends up, when mixed with human nature, to be a license to avoid wisdom wisely offered as well as learning to disregard other people and what I end up doing to them on my way to the top.
Wise advice? Questions on ethics? Possible hurt to people I love?
"I won't let anyone stop me from achieving my dreams!"
Isn't there any other way to encourage people to not easily give up?
Don't be bound by what I can't do?
Yes...but who gives me the ability to do what I do? Am I not also bound by believing everything is possible by me because of me and what I can do? All things are possible, but with God. It is not in me nor of me nor up to me.
Education is the place where dreams become reality?
Wisdom and knowledge are not the same. The pursuit of knowledge is a quick trap, and easily leads to knowledge becoming the god.
None of this, of course, will make no sense to anyone who is not a follower of Christ. For a Christian, the messages that speak to self are deadly, but for a non-Christian, they sound right and true and good. They are an attempt at a stand-in for something to believe and take strength in.
Drumming the ideas of self-importance and self-reliance and self, self, self into people creates discontentment, wrong focus, selfishness, and a false trust and belief in self that negates an understanding of their need for God.
I do not esteem myself. I do not believe in myself. I cannot do anything I put my mind to. I have no desire to relentlessly, at all costs, pursue my dreams. I want to deny self, and not have it encouraged.
These statements sound horrifying. We are constantly told the opposite! I loathe the self I see inside of me, and daily I try to overcome what it represents. It is anathema to everything we are told is healthy and necessary to be productive in life. But I question the idea that life must be "productive" and that we must constantly be striving for the next achievement, and that we must "never let go of our dreams."
What does pick up the cross daily and deny myself mean, if I have my hands full of my own dreams and pursuits that I can't even get a grip on the cross much less see where I should be carrying it?
I want God's dreams to be my dreams. I want His time to be my time. I want to live for Christ -- for Christ, not for pursuit of dreams or the pursuit of happiness -- and forget about myself.
I've grown to rather despise these kinds of platitudes that sound so good and have everyone nodding as they sip down the most delicate of poison. They don't hold up well in light of personal crisis, depression, and cultures of extreme poverty and distress. Try telling a Dalit, for example, that he ought to believe in himself and that he can be anything he puts his mind to and if he pursues his dream it will sooner or later come back around to him. It's not the truth.
::Read more about the background of this post, and download the handwritten notes I took as I worked through some of the ideas presented below, here.::
Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger 2/26/2008 07:36:00 PM
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4 Comments:
A wise essay. You hit the Christian nail on the head, easily, but as you suggest near the end, there's a case to be made even apart from the Christian faith. "You can do anything if you put your mind to it and never give up" is the Hollywood myth. It's a myth that draws thousands to Hollywood, and into the clutches of unscrupulous men, every year. It's the myth that leads children to shoot baskets and practice their rad skateboarding skillz rather than do their homework. For the vast majority of True Believers in the myth, it leads to crushing brokenness.
The truth is, everybody can't succeed--not in the same way, to the same degree. Being a movie star involves the work of thousands of underlings who presumably are not living out their childhood dreams. Being a star in sports involves beating out a bunch of other people who were also trying to be stars in sports. Having food on the table means that someone has to be a farmer, a trucker, a grocery store clerk. Maybe these are those people's lifelong dreams
The Poster Myth generally has the same effect as Name It Claim It theology: it makes people feel guilty for failing. If you're not healed, you didn't have enough faith. If you're not successful, you didn't try hard enough. It's intended to be motivating; it ends up disheartening.
By 
Keith Schooley, at
27/2/08 00:15
Julie, your take on the video was indeed extremely WISE! THANK YOU for sharing this and taking time to detail it out so clearly. I found myself nodding at EVERY point YOU brought up, as you dissected the truth behind the myth, the 'poison' he was imbibing on, himself, and slyly feeding others.
I had not yet watched this video, (I tend to dwell in a self induced cave) and am tempted to bring it, as well as your notes/essay, in as an example to my junior high Sunday school classroom, where we often dissect popular movies/themes/and what you have named 'poster myths' and counter them to Biblical truth... would you mind if I did such a thing?
Anyway, I just want to add one thing:
The real truth always ENDS on a high note. There was such an obvious 'dsiconnect' to me, between what he was preaching throughout and then that ending of it...
He was so composed and happy and full of joy until the END of that speech -- did you notice that? Hardly a 'Disney' ending...ahem... counter that with what Christ went through on the cross -- the torture, the pain, the humiliation, in the beginning, and then three days later, the JOY of it all, the freedom, the release, the happiness! God's endings are always, truly, 'joyful'. Man's endings fall short.
And so, if a believer in Truth (a Christian) were giving his 'last speech' I would hope it would end with anticipation, hope, joy, and eagerness to meet Him face to face-- a 'yay I'm going to Heaven' soon, then I can hug Jesus and be in His presence, and worship Him with all my being, free from sin!, and soon my earthly family and friends will join me there!
The ending of his speech, to me, pointed out the falsehood. Because of Christ we are free to feel joyous about leaving this world BEHIND us.
Kudos on a great post/essay.
By Andrea, at
27/2/08 10:49
Well Said Julie.
Sometimes these things come in on cats paws.
By Gene Redlin, at
27/2/08 11:13
Andrea, go ahead and use anything you'd like and, by all means, add to, clarify, or correct my mistakes!
Sometimes I don't quite get it right...
By Julie R. Neidlinger, at
28/2/08 19:15
