I recently read Gaiman's book, "American Gods" . It's about the ancient gods coming to America with the people that believed in them and they go to war with the modern gods such as technology, sex, money etc. The ancient gods need people to continue to believe in them to stay "alive". I thought is was a really interesting concept. We tend to look down on these primitive people who worshiped gods in ancient times. "How foolish to worship a statue and sacrifice lives! We are a much more evolved people now." But, we aren't so different with our modern gods.
What about the god of food. This god fights for our attention. They all do. This god will show up on Pinterest in the form of recipes, at parties, when we're alone. This god comforts us, celebrates with us, keeps us company, helps us deal with stress. Sometimes this god is delivered to us by a well meaning friend or co worker. This god demands more and more until it consumes us.
I watched the documentary, "Maxed Out" a couple years ago. It's about credit card debt. There were stories of people who committed suicide because they were so far in debt that felt there was no hope. They sacrificed their lives for the god of consumerism.
What about church? That's a good god to worship, right? You give your life over to the church. You get involved in everything you can. You are there whenever the doors are open unless you're sick, but sometimes even that won't keep you away. Your children grow up and you find you don't really have a relationship with them. You realize you offered your children as a sacrifice to the god of church ministry.
What if we worship our children? We pour our lives into them. We neglect our health- no time for exercise, sleep or eating what we should. We grow up to find out we sacrificed our financial future, our strong, healthy bodies, our relationship with our spouse. "How do we pay for retirement? Where did my health go? Where are the children? Where are my friends?"
I use these examples, but there are many gods- education, furthering our careers, the internet, sports. It's a battle for our lives. They promise to fulfill us and satisfy our desires, but they just want to consume us. They lie. If we stop worshiping them, they cease to exist. They let go. We're free.
We are all designed to worship. It's impossible for us not to worship something. Even Atheist worship a god of some form- perhaps humanity, ambition or life itself.We all live for something
There is only one God who doesn't go away when we stop believing. The God of the Bible is also demanding. He demands a perfect life and He demands justice. But in His grace He provided the perfect life in Himself to take our place. He understands our weakness. He still wants our life. He paid a great price for it, but He says, "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest." Above all, He commands us to love Him and love others. He is the only god who wants us to live a balanced life with all things in moderation, and in doing that, all other gods die.
Where do our thoughts wander? Where do we spend our money? Those are the modern gods who are fighting the hardest. Are they worth it?
I appreciated Gaiman's book because it made me think in a different way and brought the modern gods to life for me. I feel myself being pulled in different directions. I tend to get obsessive or over indulgent in one area of my life only to get that under control to become obsessive and over indulgent in another area. How do you escape when you feel a modern god pulling you in, taking over your life? I don't recommend the book, "American Gods" to everyone due to some of the content, but I appreciated it because of the creativity and the depth. It made me think and that's what I'm looking for when I open a book.
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