‘My life is a soap opera.’ We have all likely used
that phrase at one time or another to explain a highly dramatic,
troublesome, even mysterious time in our lives or someone else’s.
But have you ever really taken the time to consider why people
utter such a thing?
I am just as guilty as the next person when it comes to explaining
a period in life where everything seems to be far too complicated
with hardly a simple moment scattered in between. Saying ‘my
life is a soap opera’ is just a convenient, kitschy way
to chalk up such an episode.
But that all changed for me about a month ago. Flicking channels
one night, my wife “discovered” that we had a new
channel on our satellite dish called SoapNet.
Specifically, SoapNet is a channel that airs daytime soap opera’s
from all three major networks, 24 hours per day, seven days
per week. And if you are so lucky to tune in on a Sunday you
can view your favorite daytime drama “block style,”
i.e. … all five episodes from a given week, back to back.
My wife is enchanted by the discovery, I am indignant. For
you see, she can now watch her favorite “story”
every night. I will never get near the television again.
Due to her work schedule she has been unable to partake in
the never ending drama for the last 12 years. But the funny
thing is nothing has really changed on the program since she
last time she watched it. Cole is still pledging his unrequited
love to Phoebe, Larkin is still the rebel without a cause trying
to disrupt other people’s romantic relationships and Tristiana
still has amnesia!
The only thing my wife can find different about the various
storylines is that Harley, who was five years old the last time
she watched the program, now has facial hair and is a corporate
CEO for a Fortune 500 company. Wait a minute, if I do my math
properly young Harley should only be about 16 or 17 years old.
But it just doesn’t matter in soap opera land. For you
see, all belief in traditional reality is thrown out the window.
Allow me to illustrate. On a recent episode of The Blaze
of Our Hearts, troops were fighting insurgents tooth and
nail in northern Iraq. Rocket propelled grenades were whizzing
through the air, sand dunes were exploding all around, and the
marines were digging in for hand to hand combat. Yet standing
in the middle of all this chaos was Penelope talking on a cell
phone. A civilian for sure (the Armani outfit and hoop earrings
were a dead giveaway), our heroine was talking to Branson, her
longtime doctor boyfriend, who just happened to be in surgery
at the time. As a marine tackles her into a foxhole for safety,
she tells her beau that no matter what happens she will always
love him. Branson replies, telling her that the work she is
doing in Iraq teaching the locals how to make pottery is nothing
short of heroic. Penelope swoons, a bomb explodes over her head,
and Branson inserts the final suture as the scene fades to black.
Is this reality? I think not. It is ridiculous to think this
stuff could actually happen. But in the soap opera world it
is just another day of manufactured fantasy masquerading as
reality.
On a recent trip to the grocery store, I couldn’t resist
picking up the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest. Published
weekly, the pint-sized periodical has a section devoted to giving
readers an “Alert” as to what is coming up on future
episodes. For example, on Days of Our Lives, Shawn
informs Belle he's determined to tell Philip the truth when
he gets back. John and Kate enter and are furious at Shawn.
On General Hospital, Carly sets out to uncover the
truth about Reese. And finally, on The Guiding Light,
with Jeffrey’s encouragement, Cassie goes to Edmund, wanting
to settle some important issues but is afraid to tell him the
truth.
Did you find the common thread in the plot descriptions I have
provided above? If you are thinking deception, good guess but
incorrect. In each episode, characters were searching for truth
in one form or another. Some were telling the truth, others
were seeking the truth, and a few were even afraid to tell the
truth.
What I find interesting is that when our lives are the most
like soap operas that is usually the time when we are desperately
searching for truth the most. Nothing seems to make sense. The
world we live in is spinning out of control at a dizzying pace.
Happiness is a foreign concept. Joy … never heard of it.
But from such uncertainty can come hope and ultimately a better
grasp of truth and how to live in it. To fully understand truth
we must look to the Bible.
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the apostle Paul writes, “All scripture
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for
every good work.”
Every word in the Bible is completely true. There are no half-truths,
deceptions, or lies as we so commonly find at work, at home,
and in our schools. We could never discover the truth about
life or about ourselves in relation to God and others without
the Bible. The truth does not change over time, or it wouldn’t
be true. We receive continuous personal instruction from God’s
word on how to find truth in every situation.
If we spend time regularly turning its pages from beginning
to end and back to the middle, its power will make us new by
bringing us clarity in every decision we make. The Spirit of
God uses the Bible to answer our questions and to supply us
with truth when we so desperately need it.
Finally, an article about soap operas is never complete without
at least a mention of the never ending creativity in choosing
names for characters. A recent trip around the dial of daytime
television found a Ridge, Drucilla, Dante, Titan, Reese, Marina,
Cole, Chance, Alistair, Brady, Roman, Skye, and Victor Kiriakis.
If you were on a soap opera what name would give yourself?
I think I would call myself Caden Carpensilius. It has sort
of a nice ring to it.
Or then again, maybe not.
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.