Mucha Crema
Tove Danovich with NPR writes:
Mexicans eat them so often that the expression echarse un taco, "to grab a taco," is synonymous with eating. The phrase Le echas mucha crema a tus tacos, or "You add a lot of sour cream to your tacos," means that someone thinks a bit too highly of himself.
How much sour cream do you put on your tacos?
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (Romans 12:3).
The Curse Of Being Cool
In a new study, psychologist Joseph P. Allen writes, “The kids who seemed to have it all at age 13 — popularity, invites to parties, older friends, and love lives — are the ones who 'didn't turn out O.K.'"
Jessica Orwig of Business Insider observes:
At the onset of the study, about 20% of the subjects were considered "cool." In other words, their peers were more likely to say that they saw them as "mature" with "high social status" and therefore a "desirable companion" to spend time with.
But over the course of the next two years, from the time they were age 13 to when they turned 15, these "cool" kids' social status drastically declined ...
By the time these "cool" kids turned 23, many of them were having problems with criminal behavior and alcohol and marijuana use — significantly more than the other subjects in the study, who were not ranked in the "cool" category at the study's onset.
Mr. Allen concludes, "The trajectory of coolness takes the adolesent to a less than healthy end."
What is your social/spiritual trajectory and where is it taking you? Jesus warned, “ … when you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.” (Matthew 6:5-6, AKJV).
In New Testament times, being hyper-religious was a pretty cool thing. It gained a person a lot of social acceptance. Times have changed. Today, we strive for beauty, wealth and success in order to find social acceptance. But notice, even when the criteria for "coolness" was an ostensibly good thing--the outer appearance of religious devotion--it was still a bad thing when it was done for the purpose of impressing others. Both then and now, the trajectory of coolness takes us to a less than healthy place.
"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you" (1 John 2:15, NLT).
Acting Crabby
Put a bunch of crabs in a bucket and you'll witness an interesting phenomenon. When one attempts to climb out of the bucket, the other crabs pull him back down.
Follow the link above to learn more about "Crab Mentality."
We see this same thing happen whenever a seeker begins to look for a way out of his hopeless life. Those who are in the same "bucket" reach out to pull him back. Even those who claim to have no interest in spiritual things will suddenly display a vested interest in holding him back. If there is no God, why should they care?
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10).
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30).
Additional Application:
From the blog page "Ridiculously Extraordinary":
"I’ve noticed myself doing this on occasion and it’s upsetting to think about. For example, somebody brings an idea to me and I immediately shoot it down. 'Ehh, I don’t think that will work.' And you know what? It might not. But who am I to shoot someone down?
"I’m supposed to be supportive of my friends, family, and business partners.
"So from now on, if a friend comes to me with an idea, instead of shooting it down if I think maybe it’s not doable I’ll say 'Hmm, I’m not sure I can help, but don’t listen to me. What steps can you take right now to make it happen? And how do you think I can help?'”
"Just think of the possibilities if we all supported those close to us in this way."
Rather, Paul tells us that we should, "Rejoice with those who rejoice" (Romans 12:15).