Under The Olive Tree

Part 1

When I was a child, I could pretty much be bought for the smallest of trinkets. Our family was poor from time to time, but I don’t think that this was the reason - things that glitter have a special attraction for children. Most children will even work harder on school projects or household chores if there is a trinket in the transaction. In fact, something as small as a gold star, pasted to the top of a child’s work, will ignite a passion for excellence.

Of course, for the adult that uses these incentives, the trinket is of little value - but it is highly valued by the child. But then, trinkets are for children, right? — or for those so foolish or simple that they can be cheated, like the Indians who sold Manhattan Island for strings of beads. In 1626 Peter Minuit bought Manhattan island from the local Indians for a load of cloth, beads, hatchets, and other odds and ends then worth 60 Dutch guilders - worth less than $100 today - mere trinkets when you think of the value of the parcel.

Trinkets have a special place in our world, and they are used in some intriguing ways - and not just to influence children.

We attended an event in California some time back called “The Spirit West Coast” - a music festival that lasted 5 days and drew 15,000 Christians. At the time we were working with “Cherub Wings” - and we felt that this event was a perfect opportunity to get the “Cherub Wings” series to the people who would want it most - we booked a sales booth and loaded up a couple thousand videos! We were excited to have the opportunity to get this delightful series to as many deserving families as possible.

Right next to our booth was a couple selling Christian paraphernalia to the crowds - you know, the regular stuff - stickers, buttons, key chains, necklaces, clothing patches, rings - trinkets bearing the stamp of association with Jesus of Nazareth - the Mystic Himself! Parents would arrive with their teenage children in tow - and the fun would begin! “Oh My God! There it is sweetheart! The stickers you’ve been longing for! Oh My God! We have hit the mother load!” (in so many words)

These parents went gaga over trinkets - and this couple did a killing! They had to apologize more than once that they had run out of a certain sticker or button - like the one that shouted out in big bold letters “Loser!” - then the fine print pointing to a passage from the Holy writings about “he that loseth his life … “, or something like that - it was too small to read. And the “Cherub Wings” sales? - about 1 video every hour per 10 hour day.

You wonder why their children find a relationship with the Divine somewhat shallow.

We have all heard the old adage “all that glitters is not gold” - believe it or not, Shakespeare is the best-known user of the idea which can be traced back to the 12th century French theologian Alain de Lille who wrote “Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold”. The original Shakespeare editions of The Merchant of Venice, 1596, have the line as ‘all that glisters is not gold‘. ‘Glister’ is now usually replaced by the more commonly used ‘glitter’, which has the same meaning.

And where do the trinkets and glitter come from? I guess you could say that it all comes from the Glitz Merchants - those that can sell us through “all that glitters”. The word glitz probably originates from the German glitzern or the Old Norse glitra - to glitter.

The glitz is an important and dynamic part of commerce on every level - from selling us slogans to live by to every conceivable product - take a look at the glitz.

According to the Center for Disease Control’s website, “Cigarette smoking is the single most preventable cause of premature death in the United States. Each year, more than 400,000 Americans die from cigarette smoking. In fact, one in every five deaths in the United States is smoking related. Every year, smoking kills more than 276,000 men and 142,000 women.”

Cigarettes must be a hard sell then, no? Enter the glitz.

I found an interesting site showing how cigarette manufacturers have used the glitz to sell their product. Glitter for the childish, the foolish and the simple. (http://www.trinketsandtrash.org/exhibit/exhibit0.htm) It is worth looking at, because it nails down the methodology of using glitz to sell a product that only those with a death wish would purchase if it was sold plainly and honestly. Here is an example from their site.

Cigarette cards with collectable designs and pictures, usually in series, were introduced in the 1870s as a marketing device. Coupons redeemable for trinkets advertised with tobacco packets and through catalogs were another major marketing device. On display are some silks from early in the century, Tareyton cards featuring the cartoon character Henry dating from the 1930s, and Raleigh coupons (Brown & Williamson) probably from the 1960s. Brown & Williamson is the only major cigarette manufacturer which continues an unbroken tradition of coupons with some of its brands.

The glitz is everywhere - and you are still a child if you are falling for it (or worse yet, foolish). Solomon of Jerusalem chided us when he said, “A fool is known by his folly”.

You might even consider that if it takes glitz to sell it to you, then there might be something wrong with the product in the first place - or something wrong with the inflated price - the glitz is the first step in getting your attention.

Remember Eve in the Garden of Eden.

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”