On a sunny morning in June, 2003, two days after my 37th birthday, I had an unsolicited, unexpected and unbelievable encounter with God. Put more simply, without asking, praying or seeking, I woke up one morning a churchgoing agnostic (following years of rabid atheism) and put my head to the pillow that night a newly minted, highly unlikely Christian. I wish I could say my radical conversion happened gently…all harps and angels and light…but that was not my experience. On the contrary, I was nauseous, had trouble catching my breath and felt like there was a 500 lb weight on my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack. But here’s the kicker. A lifelong skeptic who was, at times, militantly anti-Christian, I suddenly believed without hesitation that the Christian story that I had frequently railed against was true. I couldn’t have told you what that story was, but I knew without the luxury of details that it was all true. Now this might make some sense if I needed a spiritual experience. Say if I was fighting a serious illness or was down on my luck financially-or maybe if I were struggling with a painful loss or trying to navigate a tough personal challenge. But I didn’t need a spiritual experience. As far as I was concerned, my life was perfect. I was a successful PR executive making a healthy six-figure salary, married to my best friend who also made a six-figure salary. We had three healthy, happy kids and lived in our dream home about an hour northwest of New York City. I was seven years sober and had faced down most of my major issues/resentments in a program of recovery. Life was pretty good. Yet, there I was-sick, crying and convinced that something beyond my comprehension had happened to me. No one was more surprised than my husband Martin, who was there with me when it happened. He had been a Christian since he was a kid and knew the extent to which I thought the whole Christian thing was a contrivance. I had fought vigorously over coffee and cigarettes to convince him that religion had been created by leaders to control the masses or by weak individuals to soften the blow of their incapacity to deal with their day to day lives. He never did come around to my way of thinking, but I figured if he could overlook the fact that I was an alcoholic single mother with two kids and marry me, I could overlook the fact that he was a Christian and marry him. So here I was, convinced that this Christian thing was true, with no idea what that really meant. What followed was years of learning that is discussed in much greater detail in a book that I am writing. Suffice it to say that I learned that following Christ and living by the dictates of the Holy Spirit does not always add up to the overly simplified “join the team and your life will be wonderful” message that I have heard so frequently. As a matter of fact, the years since that day in 2003 have been some of the most difficult I have ever encountered. We have lost more than you can imagine-money, possessions, prestige and people. And yet, I would not turn back for the world. So, now I’m trying to make sense of this new life. Attempting to go beyond predictable platitudes in order to allow this change of heart to lead to a genuine change of life. This blog will chronicle the day to day joys and trials of my journey and raise some key questions and challenges I face as I find my place in a faith that still confounds me.
As people across the nation prepare to spend this evening eating, drinking and consuming millions of dollars in television advertisements before, during and after the Super Bowl, this story of a family in Atlanta offers a contrasting view of how American affluence might be used more productively…
posted February 8, 2010 at 6:57 pm
It was used to help people. It created jobs and circulated through the economy.
posted February 8, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Cedric: I can’t help but think the money would be better spent in communities than filtered through the tax/profit system in hope that it will leave savings accounts and wind its way through the economy. The Pepsi Refresh program is a great example of this…
posted February 9, 2010 at 11:16 am
“Deep in the heart of every Puritan is the fear that someone, somewhere might be happy.” H. L. Mencken.
There will always be people who say that other people should forgo some pleasure or other for the sake of whatever. Fortunately, those people will always be ignored.
posted February 11, 2010 at 6:30 am
pepsi makes people fat … and sick around the world.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/caution-some-soft-drinks-may-seriously-harm-your-health-450593.html
posted February 15, 2010 at 1:05 pm
In the last census (1999), the median household income in Atlanta was $34,770; in New Orleans, the median household income was $27,133. Since then New Orleans was hit by Katrina, the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. Prior to their trip to Africa, the family in the video had never met the kind of poverty that existed in New Orleans.
The Super Bowl will mean millions of dollars of income for the New Orleans. Moreover, the foundation created by the Superbowl’s young quarterback has given or committed about 4.5 million dollars to the city. The example of this quarterback and this team has led to the healing of a racial divide created by poverty and racial politics. For the first time in 31 years, the African-American majority in New Orleans have crossed the color lines to elect a white mayor because they believe that he understands them and has policies that will benefit African-Americans and all other residents of the city.
As for slamming capitalism as a means of accruing benefit to society, that’s a pretty hypocritical thing for a marketing professor to say, isn’t it?
posted February 15, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Hi Frank: I am actually very hopeful about the possibilities that cause marketing (i.e. Pepsi Refresh), patient capital (i.e. Acumen Fund) and other methods for using ethical capitalism to improve conditions of those in poverty. What I call into question is the efficacy of dozens of $2.5 million 30 second advertising spots as the best/only method to get there…