Distraction and Escape

Those who escape reality flee from God.

When political unrest flooded the streets of ancient Rome – and that would happen every so often - it would quickly start washing away the shifting sands from beneath the emperor’s throne. The emperor would then be left with few choices and little time to divert this current before his palace crumbled and chants for his head shook the seven hills. Fortunately for these ancient rulers, the Romans were simple people. Blood had the power to stop most uprisings, and it did not have to be the emperor's blood.

Bread and games - that is what calmed the mob. The Colosseum was the dam that kept many emperors from drowning in the rapids of revolution. Creative executions, animal hunts, and gladiator fights - that, along with complimentary bread, distracted the masses from the struggles of their daily lives and refocused their attention on the superficial. This was one of the many great triumphs of Roman politicians. They discovered that snacks and entertainment were the best pacifiers to stop Rome from crying.

Today, these barbaric games feel distant.

The age of gladiators is over.

Panem et circenses – ‘bread and games’, have been covered by the sands of time.

But somehow, the idea lives on. The Colosseum does not lie dormant; it has simply shapeshifted.

We now carry it in our pockets.

We have it mounted on our walls.

We have the Colosseum on our desks and in our ears.

And while the Romans had to walk to the Colosseum, we cannot seem to escape it.

The bread and games of our time are our cell phones with all their social media apps, TV shows with their endless seasons, movies with budgets large enough to end world hunger, and video games that are cruelly designed to leave those who play them longing for more.

In today's contemplation, we will ignore the harm these vices cause. And they cause plenty of harm.

We will ignore the time they waste and the addictions to which they lead. And they waste plenty of time and lead to powerful addictions.

No, today, we will focus on an entirely different question.

The Colosseum was, at its core, two things: It was a distraction from more important matters, and it was an escape from daily life.

So, what are our modern-day bread and games distracting us from, and when we run to them, what is it that we are trying to escape?

Here is my shortest possible answer:

They distract us from asking questions and finding purpose.

We run to them, trying to escape responsibility and, above all, reality.

Our fatal flaw in doing so is this:

If we ask no questions, we cannot find answers.

If we have no purpose, our lives are meaningless.

If we try to escape responsibility, we stand for nothing.

And if we try to escape reality, we are fleeing from God.

Now, it’s important to note that these four horsemen of distraction and escape that I mentioned above (cell phones, TV, shows, movies, and video games) are by no means the only culprits that vie for our attention. It just seems to me that these are simply the most prominent and influential manifestations of the bread and games principle in our modern society. There are many other things that try to distract us from questions and purpose – watching sports and shopping are two examples of this. There are also additional vices that offer us opportunities to try and escape responsibility and reality – lying and junk food are two very diverse examples of this.

The bottom line and central message of today’s contemplation is this: Our modern-day bread and games will render us blind and useless, as well as weak and purposeless. We cannot afford to become ensnared by them.

Click here for part two.

image source: echodujardin.com