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Illusions

I've heard two comments over the past two days relating to illusions. The first was at the gym, where I overheard a man talking about the "illusion of choice," the idea being we think we have the power to choose the directions of our lives, but in fact are dictated by conditions out of our control. The second I heard at Barnes and Noble today. A cafe employee was taking people's orders and telling those without food or beverages that the cafe was reserved for patrons. When she left, I heard a man in the corner tell a stranger that this event highlighted an "illusion of happiness." He then went onto explain that the hospitality industry-- in places like Starbucks and Disneyland-- creates a setting that provides happiness to people, but that this happiness only exists for those who pay for their services.

This second illusion brought back to mind what I'd read earlier on a blog (see markgalli.com, " Starbucks Homeless Bathrooms," November 29th, 2011) about homeless people using Starbucks restrooms in San Francisco as though they were public restrooms. The blogger alluded to the idea that Starbucks has a socially comfortable quality to it, in that one expects to go there and find people like himself or herself. Seeing homeless people in line for the restroom, then, would frustrate this atmosphere, and perhaps the allure of Starbucks itself.

More than allowing us to see for a moment the ugly underbelly of the hospitality and entertainment industries, though, events like these serve just as much to make us aware of our own expectations. I know that, without actually thinking it explicitly, I expect a particular atmosphere from Starbucks, one that has people more or less like me. I don't think it's wrong to go to a place for its social comforts (this is why I go to the Barnes and Noble cafe). I do believe it's important to be willing to lose this for the sake of those not like me.

I suppose socialists would have me go much farther and say that the homeless-in-the-Starbucks phenomena is an illustration of the imbalanced equation that we call capitalism. The services of such a facility benefit one class at the expense of another. In a perfect world, we could rectify this en masse by removing classes altogether and beginning to share our resources equally. We don't, however, live in a perfect world. The best contemporary answer that I've seen is social justice, wherein we work on a smaller scale to address the causes of injustice, including poverty.

From the Christian standpoint, though, Christ didn't come to change economic or political systems. He came to "seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10), to "destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:18), and to make us more like him (John 17:17-19, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Ephesians 4:11-13, 1 Peter 2:21), among other reasons; and at least in the context of a local Starbucks, that change can manifest itself by a willingness to share with those who are not like you.* It's easy for me to say this, I suppose. I don't have a dire need to drink coffee at Starbucks. Besides, I would have the freedom to leave if I wanted. I would respond differently if I were asked to lose that choice.

The best personal example I have of this more cutting sacrifice is something my mom and dad did years ago, as I was growing up. I remember not long after moving into our new home, a mother and her daughter suddenly showed up and started living in the back room. I guess my mom had learned that this woman was homeless, so my parents let them stay with us for awhile. Later, my parents did it again. They let my mom's best friend move into the same room after we learned she was horribly burned in Cambodia.

If there is an illusion of happiness, I only hope we are willing to watch it crumble as we sacrifice our own freedoms for the sake of others. That, to me, is justice (see Deuteronomy 24:21 and Jeremiah 22:3).

*I found the Scriptural references to change as one of Christ's purposes here:
Congdon, Roger. "Why did Jesus Come?" The Teaching Home. 2001. Web. 27 December 2011.
Tkach, Joseph. "The Goal of the Christian Life." Grace Communion International. 2011. Web. 27 December 2011.

Apple, Jody L. "Why did Jesus Come to Earth?" theBible.net. Copyright 2004 by Francisco Burzi. Web. 28 December 2011.

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