this is an outstanding book

“So in Jesus’ own teaching, in his choice not to avoid confrontation with the temple leaders and their Roman overseers, we find that his most definitive calling is neither to cultivate nor create — though, as we have seen, he did both extensively.  The core calling of his life is not something he does at all in an active sense–it is something he suffers. The strangest and most wonderful paradox of the biblical story is that its most consequential moment is not an action but a passion — not a doing but a suffering.”

[andy crouch, culture making]

manufacturing glamour

“The state of being envied is what constitutes glamour. And [advertising] is the process of manufacturing glamour. … [advertising] is always about the future buyer. It offers him an image of himself made glamorous by the product or opportunity it is trying to sell. The image then makes him envious of himself as he might be. Yet what makes this self-which-he-might-be enviable? The envy of other. [Advertising] is about social relations, not objects. Its promise is not of pleasure, but of happiness: happiness as judged from the outside by others. The happiness of being envied is glamour. … Being envied is a solitary form of reassurance. It depends precisely upon not sharing your experience with those who envy you. You are observed with interest but you do not observe with interest – if you do, you will become less enviable.”

[Paul Berger, Ways of Seeing]

i read this passage a few weeks ago and i’ve been reflecting on it ever since… i’ve found it to be quite true.  this critique of consumer culture is powerful because it makes you feel silly.  pretty interesting.