Does Liberace Yet Live?

Who does not know that things like these have happened and do happen in the world. That someone who once ruled over countries and kingdoms has ceased to rule and is obliged to see a more powerful ruler take his place. That someone who once was hailed with jubilation soon, yes so soon, that the whole thing seems to have been a dream. hears the same jubilation shouting another name? Soren Kierkegaard, from his discourse, "He Must Increase; I Must Decrease." 

I was recently in the bowels of the Hershey Arena (the indoor arena of the Hershey Empire before the Giant Center was built). I was at an awards banquet for one of my seniors winning a scholarship and the room where the event was held was the same place where entertainers would hang out before and after their performances. The Hershey Arena is where Wilt dropped a 100 points during a basketball game on a hapless opponent, a record that still stands in the NBA 

The room has seen better days...

This room was a walk down memory lane. Most of the entertainers with signed pictures and salutations to the hospitality of Hershey are deceased. Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Groucho Marx, Liberace, etc. As far as we could tell, Liberace had the most signed pictures hanging in the room. He even had a garish painting of himself up on the wall in a central location. He was a garish dude so that painting just reflected that. Not sure I can call him a dude in the general way either. Rather flamboyant, shall we say. I am sure the grannies here in Central Pa. ate it up. 

I snapped this picture of Hanson...wonder where they are now but frankly don't wonder enough to Google it. 

I was struck by the passing nature of fame. Like the sun that had set, the photographs were shadows of days gone by. I read a saying when I was young along the lines of, "Before you set your heart too much on anything, examine how happy it makes someone who already has it."  Fame and notoriety is a goal that many strive for, but seeing all of these aging photographs of yesteryear reminded me that here today and gone tomorrow is the rule of existence. It made me wonder why we want fame so bad when it doesn't mean much once we have passed from the scene. I suppose the same stoical detachment has an inverse, the grab all we can because all we have is this one life. 

I think there is a great existential need in the soul of man, to sense that his/her life has made a difference. When I was out at the L.A. Festival of Books I sat in a chair opposite of an interviewer who was filming peoples' thoughts about God for a documentary. He was representing an Atheist organization. I like scenarios like this because Atheists, at least the ones I know, typically fashion themselves as the intellectuals. It is us backwood Theists who are the idiots. Being informed often allows me to throw them off their skeptical stance. 

My point in the 5-10 minutes of my talking was that if humanity doe not have an eternal destiny and exist after death, nothing really matters in the end. God is part of that thesis because if eternity does not exist for humanity, whether God exists or not is really not a relevant concern. So, as Paul says, live it up, for tomorrow you die. If death of identity is the ultimate end, then your DNA will live on, if you have children, but you are done. You fulfilled your biological duty, which is in itself meaningless and not particularly purposeful. Nihilism is the only logical conclusion but few are willing to face it. 

Jesus came from eternity to bring us the Good News that this life is important because eternity is our ultimate destination, and how we live and what we believe has enormous consequences. John the Baptist was the originator of the "Increase and Decrease" line. The Scriptures suggest that he began to question Jesus's divinity and mission after he, John, had been tossed in jail (that's a decrease for sure, as well as his eventual beheading) for calling out Herod on his immorality. This detail has enormous importance because it shows that even the greatest of godly people have doubts and times of discouragement. 

Oh, I did look up Hanson...curiosity did get the best of me.     

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