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Conditioned
to see the dollar sign as a symbol for success, materialism is running
rampant amongst children worldwide. Those ages 14 years and younger trigger
a staggering $600-billion in spending every year.
People are grasping for validation. Some seek it through financial prosperity.
Others strive to put their face on the map — at any cost. There’s
a desperation to be noticed.
Associated Press writer Martha Irvine proved this sudden and desperate
need for fame among young people in her article, “Hey, Look at ME!”
(July 2003).
She quoted 23-year-old American Adrienne Katzman, who commented, “I
think fame will give meaning to my life. I mean, who am I right now? A
face in a million. If I become famous, then I really will feel like I
am someone, and I ... will be known.”
Dr. Charles Stanley, noted pastor and author, comments on this tragic
yet common perspective in his Handbook for Christian Living (Thomas Nelson
Publishers).
“Longing for people’s acceptance is a snare ... We are a people
who tear ourselves into a fractured piece of flesh trying to meet [everyone’s]
expectations.”
The demands of the world are insatiable. Actor Willie Aames, who
played teen heart-throb Tommy Bradford of TV’s Eight is Enough,
can testify to the despair of trying to fit into an impossible mold.
“I never wanted to be an actor,” reveals the 43-year-old.
“I ... just wanted to be accepted, loved and I wanted to feel like
I mattered ... [acting] was really just an effort to feel loved.”
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The former Hollywood star, now living in Kansas City, Kansas,
held a gun to his head at the age of 19. One wonders why, considering
Aames had achieved society’s benchmarks for success.
“I was making more than one million dollars a year,” he told
Decision magazine (June 2001). “I had a rock band [and] ... pursued
sex and relationships [and] material things — houses, boats, whatever.”
He was also pursuing “Quaaludes, mushrooms, cocaine, pot, and alcohol
... I was pretty disillusioned with Hollywood at that point. Something
was missing,” he shared with People magazine (June 2000). The afro-headed
actor had used drugs for 10 years and OD’d twice. The white powder
was one of many attempts to escape an empty heart.
“We drink, we buy, we use, we spend, we cheat on our partners. We
do that because we’re looking for some sort of acceptance,”
Aames tells Living Light News. “People are searching for hope in
anything they can, to try to make themselves feel better inside.”
On the set of the cable TV show, Rocky Road, Aames met actress Maylo McCaslin,
whose acting credits include A-Team, Blue-Thunder and Charles in Charge.
Maylo’s purple hair, fishnet stockings, leather and layers of makeup
caught Aames’ eye. He asked her to dinner. McClaslin consented,
on the condition that the entire TV cast came along.
Later on, as their relationship grew, a radio preaching ministry in Los
Angeles sparked the couple’s interest in attending church. This
led Aames and McCaslin to ask God to forgive their sins, and invite His
Son, Jesus Christ, into their lives. Shortly after, they were married
and baptized — on the same day — 17 years ago.
“What drove my life [before meeting Jesus] was wondering, do people
like me or do they hate me? It is anger and disappointment and that longing
to belong, or to achieve, that drives most people. That all goes away
when you have hope in Christ!” Aames exclaims.
After accepting Jesus’ love and forgiveness, Willie and Maylo discovered
that God’s grace allowed them to meet His expectations.
As Dr. Stanley explains in his Handbook, “God is the One who approves
of us unconditionally! We don’t have to perform for Him to do so.
He confirmed our worth when He sent His Son to die in our place.”
What exactly does God expect of His children?
“(To) love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul and with all your mind ... and (to) love your neighbour as yourself,”
Jesus tells us in the Bible (Matt. 22:37, 39).
This is made possible once we discover for ourselves that “We love
(God and others) because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Can anyone measure up to worldly perfection? No, but by God’s grace
we can appear perfect in His eyes.
“You realize that it doesn’t matter what everybody else thinks,”
Aames says. “I matter to Christ. I’m OK and loved whether
the people around me know that or not, there is love there. There is an
understanding.”
Willie and Maylo’s daughter, Harleigh Jean, can testify to personally
knowing God’s love, even at the young age of 12. The spunky, curly-haired
actress recently filmed The Missy Files, a video series directed by father
Willie Aames.
The Files portray the personal diaries of “an outgoing Christian
girl ... full of life, with an outstanding, fun vocabulary. She also dresses
like Cyndi Lauper ... ” relates Harleigh.
The series’ most valuable asset is its message to girls who are
being suffocated by worldly demands. As Harleigh puts it, “I ...
hope it helps girls to be more comfortable being themselves instead of
what the world tells them to be, because the world can be really misleading.”
Harleigh has found freedom through the love of God, and wants to extend
this gift to others.
“All the girls who watch The Missy Files will walk away with the
same message,” she says.
“Be yourself, the beautiful person God made you to be, and let your
light shine.”
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