For the Fashion of This World…

Benjamin Franklin once wrote: “There are numbers who, perhaps, fear less the being in hell that out of fashion.” And while we have often attempted to lay the charge at the feet of women, by no means do they have a monopoly on this prevalent human failing. In many ways humankind show themselves to be fearful of being out of fashion—sometimes in their opinions as well as their apparel—sometimes even their beliefs and loyalties and principles. To seem to be right in the eyes of others is sometimes tragically thought to be more important than being right. Of course there are legitimate occasions for pretending—the make-believe games of children and the arts of the drama among them. But in earnest ways of real life, deliberately seeming to be what one is not is a form of fraud, and whatever satisfaction there might be in it is more than offset by the ultimate certainty of exposure—for the embarrassment that follows such exposure must greatly exceed the supposed pleasure of pretending. And yet, in yielding to the temptation of seeming to be what they are not, or for seeming to have what they have not, there are many who have dissipated their means, incurred debt, mortgaged their future, compromised themselves, and in numerous ways become literally slaves to appearances, paying a terrible price, often for a supposed prestige or position that could not be perpetuated anyway, and that wouldn’t mean much if it could. There are false fronts in other forms also, such as giving new faces to old and unsound structures, making things seem what they are not. Such pretenses are bad enough when they pertain to material things, but false fronts on people are infinitely worse. They demoralize character; they cause men to lose confidence in each other; they set the stage for suspicion, disillusionment, and cynicism. Perhaps one of the most cherished promised of heaven is that we shall be seen and known for what we are, and will not be permitted to deceive even ourselves. But here on earth, with so many having becoming slaves to appearances, we continue to pay a great cost for false fronts, and make it increasingly difficult for a man to be accepted at face value. The appearance of things is important, but of infinitely greater importance are truth, integrity, reality—”…for the fashion of this world passeth away.”