Recently I had the opportunity to attend a Hall of Fame
banquet. It was a very nice
occasion. I knew some of the folks, but
not well, who were being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I was happy for them. In this case the fame for which they were
being lauded was athletics. Of course,
for each and every one, there was an impressive array of statistics that
underscored why they had been selected and were being honored. The occasion was an evening of
superlatives. This person was the “best
at…” So often, she was “better
than…” And so the litany of praise went.
I am sure that is the standard fare for induction into any
kind of Hall of Fame. I am sure there
are more of these Halls of Fame than I can imagine. It prompted me to think a little bit about
fame. To have fame is to be recognized
by others. It is to gain some kind of
reputation that suggests you surpass the others in some arena. If it is basketball, it means you excel in
ways that the other 99% of players do not.
Fame is the reputation of “standing out---outstanding.”
Of course, there is a link between fame and famous. People who are famous have built up enough
recognition that the status of fame is accorded to them. Having said that, though, I realize how
tricky this can become. Fame often is
associated with celebrity. And our
society certainly loves its celebrities.
No doubt, all the modern media accelerated this celebrity-making. Television was a huge celebrity-maker. And now there is the social media world---YouTube,
Twitter and the like.
Maybe fame is fascinating because so few are acclaimed. In our world people can become famous for
impressive things or stupid things.
People become famous when enough people know you, recognize you, can
cite your reputation, etc. That’s why I
am not famous! But we know fame can be
fleeting. “Famous today, forgotten
tomorrow.” Perhaps that flash-in-the-pan
fame is not significant. Compare some of
the famous people today with an Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr. Those two will be famous tomorrow and in
fifty years. YouTube won’t exist in
fifty years!
I am also fascinated by the reverse side of fame, namely,
shame. Perhaps we could say that shame
is fame for the wrong reason! I have
often heard people laughingly refer to the Hall of Shame. Again, there are some folks who are widely
known for the shame they have wrought.
It is easy to think of Bernie Madoff, who ripped off countless people
for some $50 billion! Public shame must
be awful.
As I ponder this, my mind turns to the folks in the world of
religion who have been attributed fame or who have earned the recognition of
shame. It is easy to think about Jesus,
Mohammed, and the Buddha. I am sure not
one of them set out to become famous. I
am not sure any of them were dazzling or handsome. Their clothes would not have set them apart.
Since most readers are more familiar with Jesus, let’s use
him as our example. As I read the New
Testament, there is no indication he wanted to be famous. As a matter of fact, his public life met with
a fair amount of resistance. He managed
to attract a motley crew of followers, but by and large, most folks likely
ignored him. He did attract the
attention of some who began to worry about his message. Some of his fellow Jews and, certainly, some
of the Romans began to monitor his “craziness.”
Some of the Jews probably were concerned for any emerging
fame. And the Romans would have seen him
more from the shame perspective. From
the Roman imperial perspective, his teaching was shameful. In the end and paradoxically, the Romans
killed him to end it all and phoenix-like he became famous! And all this happened without television and
YouTube!
I claim to be a follower of Jesus. I am helped by teachings from the Buddha and
have been helped by Muslim perspectives.
Fortunately for me, however, there is no fame and no shame. I am in the middle---between fame and shame. I am like 99.9% of the population. No fame, no shame. I am not outstanding in any regard. Does that mean I don’t count?
Of course, I count.
And you count. And everybody
counts. That’s the illusion of fame and
shame. The illusion suggests than if you
are not famous---or infamous---you don’t count; you are a nobody! But every major religious tradition would
call this a lie.
We all count. Every
one of us is a child of the Holy One---beloved and precious. We are known, recognized, valued and valuable
in the eyes of that Lover of All. To be
loved is the spiritual sauce of the universe.
You are loved! Fame and shame do
not guarantee love. In fact, they often
make it more difficult. No fame, no
shame---but love, indeed!
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