Chris Burkmenn's Blog

Life and Media Why do we so badly want to be a part of a celebrity life? We watch shows that glamorize being popular. Longing to be in the in crowd. Feeling a sense of deprivation because we are not in the elite. Feeling as though we know these stars: Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Ellen, and any other that come to mind. We want to be in that club, we want to have as many followers, likes, retweets, shares, and anything that comes with it. We feel as though we should have those things it's a sense of entitlement. "Well if Ellen has that many likes on her photo then I should too." Almost missing the message of what life truly is and the possibility that we may never have those things. We may never have 1.4 million likes on our Instagram account. We may never be sitting in that chair next to Ellen. Through all of the hype and all of the buzz the one true thing that we should be ok with is ourselves. We should be perfectly content with what we have, we should be ok with in...

In a time where social media is at the tip of our fingers. A culture that has been groomed to broadcast their successes, dreams, and experiences; we are given a glimpse into the lives of our peers.  So easily scrolling through someone meeting their favorite celebrity, reaching the finish line(race, cancer, graduation,) achieving a dream(music, acting, modeling.) As friends we share in each others achievements and grieve in their setbacks. We are the first to wish a congratulations, liking a photo, sharing a post. We respond, "That is incredible." Supporting them as a good friend should.  What we don't realize is that while we are seeing our friends broadcast their lives, we don't know the full story. We don't understand what went into those achievements, and sometimes we gain resentment for them. We don't know what people go through in their walk of life. We can't take everything posted on Facebook as their complete success. Perception is everyt...

So often we go through life and have ourselves almost convinced that God has somehow forgotten about us. We confuse our finances with the notion that God is neglecting us. As if we had done something wrong to deserve a setback. I was at McDonalds this evening drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper and watching the people around me. I saw this woman sobbing and apologizing to her husband for how sorry she was. How she wished she could have changed their current situation. She had major dental work done today and was still in shock with the bill. She was standing at the Coke station and telling her husband that this was not what she had wanted, and that she would have rather gone on a trip. She seemed so convinced that this situation was bigger than God and that he had forgotten about her. That she was alone with no one looking out for her. I wanted to touch her hand and let her know that God had not forgotten about her. I overheard her apologizing to the cashier saying, "I am sorry I am so...