Today's Gods

There are these modern day religions that my kids are hearing about everywhere they turn. The rest of us are hearing about them too, and though I don't think we really think of them as "gods," they're getting into our heads the same way that the idols of ancient Israel infiltrated their lives and I'm not liking it. First, there's the Exercise God. If we all just worship it, think about it all the time and try to serve it, our lives will be better. Bike instead of drive a car, you'll be healthier and happier. Then there's the Ecofriendly God. If we bike instead of driving a car we'll be more environmentally friendly. Plus we'll be happier. And we'll be "doing the right thing." I'm SO TIRED of it.

I reached my limit yesterday when a neighborhood kid showed up and asked Archer if he could ride his bike around the block with her. She looked at me and said, "I'm getting my exercise." She's EIGHT! YUCK! When I was eight bike riding was about FUN. I didn't start thinking about "exercise" until I was at least in high school, and even then, biking wasn't about exercise, it was for getting to work (before I could drive) or spending time with friends and family (fun).

I had a conversation with Archer once while we were driving somewhere and he was telling me about how bad it is to drive a car, how it hurts the planet and we shouldn't be driving so much. He was in kindergarden at the time. While I understand that he was just repeating what he'd heard from school or his "educational" cartoons, I got kind of mad at him about it. I wanted to say, "If you don't like riding in my car then go ahead and walk. I'll wait for you when I get there."

I find these modern day gods showing up in the little places in our lives, often put there by television or public school, and my first reaction is to try to shelter my kids from the world. But after a few years of this I've learned, there's no sheltering completely, they'll hear it all eventually. So its my job to frame it for what it is, teach them the truth, and try to just let it go when I feel my blood pressure starting to rise in yet another discussion with Archer about why we shouldn't be driving my little car around town.