Article February 24, 1992 Issue

Not helpless after all

Christ Jesus presented a view of existence that is both unlimited and within reach.

Marjorie Russell Tis

A While ago I saw a television advertisement featuring a man on a couch talking to a psychiatrist. The man's problem? He couldn't resist eating a certain brand of ice cream—a lot of it. "I can't help myself," he laments.

At first this struck me as just another funny, clever ad. But then I saw a more serious side to it. In the next couple of days I noticed the image of human helplessness in other ads, for other products. In fact, it appeared so often, you'd think the image was being marketed instead of the products! I realized that the unwary viewer not only might be drawn into buying a cologne or a candy bar he doesn't really want or need, but also might be buying into a sad mistake: the belief that weakness, incapacity, and lack of self-control are to be accepted as inevitable.

"I can't help myself." "I can't help it." They're common enough expressions, popping up in casual conversation, in popular songs. Yet feeling helpless isn't always a light thing. Sometimes it's literally a matter of survival. Certainly it's anything but funny to feel helpless if, for example, you or someone you love is battling addiction. Or disease. Or problems associated with age. If you feel you can't think straight or pray, that's no joke. Even failure to break a minor bad habit can be demoralizing.

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"We have to have sonship first to have brotherhood"
February 24, 1992
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