men and muppets

maybe you remember big bird, cookie monster and elmo. maybe you were a fan of bert and ernie, grover, or oscar the grouch. maybe you could sing along with that theme song (go ahead, you know you want to).

today is the 40th birthday of the tv show "sesame street." it first showed on nov10, 1969 and has been on tv ever since. the show was based on an "unproven" and "revolutionary" idea for it's time; the use of television as an educational tool. could children learn through tv? it would help kids learn shapes, colors, basic math and word recognition. each show was built around short segments to hold kids' attention. they would use fast-moving action, humor, and music to engage children. they intentionally set it in an inner-city set with a multi-racial cast to appeal to a diverse audience they would pre-screen episodes to test educational effectiveness on kids.

they also did something else that was particularly ground breaking. the show paired animation, muppets, and live actors together. they would have a blend of fluffy monsters and caring adults. it was this colliding of different worlds that brought all the learning moments together for kids.

i think there's something for us to learn in that concept. these seemingly different worlds, muppets and live actors,
coming together. some would say it's just an illusion on the tv screen, that they're really not different worlds. because the puppeteers just duck below the tv cameras and be off-screen with the real actors.

and that's the thing. they're not different worlds.

too often people will try to separate different aspects of their life.

i'm "this" person at home but i'm "this" person at school. i act "this" way around one set of friends but i act differently around another set of people. certain values and convictions are important in "this" area of my life but i can compromise all that for convenience in "this" area of my life.

we can't live in different worlds.

james wrote, "can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?" the obvious answer is no. he's saying there's a need for consistency in our lives.

Jesus said, "you can't worship two gods at once. loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. adoration of one feeds contempt for the other."

we can't honor God with one part of our life and dishonor Him in other areas. God made us to be one person. to live with integrity.

ask God to show you where the "different worlds" of your life need to come together. where do you need to be "this" person that God created you to be in ALL areas of your life? pray that God would show you where there's "fresh water and salt water" in your life. pray that God would help you to live with integrity, honoring him with your whole life.

Technorati tags: sesame street, there's a monster at the end of this blog post

I told you there was a monster at the end of this blog post.