Introduction
Video Ill.: Perception vs. Reality — The Skit Guys
Uncovering the Hidden Story of Gary Burghoff, the Beloved Actor Behind Radar
Quotes All About Life
July 4, 2024
https://www.sportskeeda.xyz/?p=6979
Gary Burghoff’s iconic portrayal of Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly in the hit sitcom “MAS*H” left an indelible mark on television history. Despite his character’s endearing nature, Burghoff struggled with the pressures of fame and the constant scrutiny of his physical appearance.
Born with a congenital disability called Brachydactyly (Brack - uh - dack - tuh - lee), Burghoff had three smaller fingers on his left hand, which he often hid from the camera. Throughout his time on “MAS*H,” he carefully positioned himself to conceal his left hand, using his right hand to gesture whenever possible.
Despite his efforts, there were moments when his left hand was visible on screen, often caught in candid moments like salutes, gestures, or even holding his pet guinea pig, Babette. These brief glimpses offered a rare look at Burghoff’s true self, beyond the character that had defined him.
Burghoff’s journey was marked by both triumph and struggle. He faced insecurities about his appearance, but his talent and dedication shone through in his performances. His fellow cast members adored him, and his character remains a beloved fixture in television history. He was my favorite character on the show!
Burghoff’s story serves as a reminder that even in the spotlight, we can hide our true selves. Yet, it’s in those unguarded moments that our authenticity shines through, making us more relatable and human.
Who are we? What is our true identity?
There is often a discrepancy between perception and reality. You see, we get so tied up in trying to determine what our true identity is that often times we create a new identity that just isn’t reality.
In our country today, our identities are in crisis. What do we believe? Who do we support? Are we Republican or Democrat? Male or female? What religion, ethnicity, or race are we? Who are we? In what is our identity found?
This morning, we are starting a three part study looking at where we can find our true identity — our true selves.
My prayer is that by the end, we will know who we are, whose we are, and where we can find our true source of identity.
As we begin this morning, I want to start at the very beginning: Genesis 1.
We read this a few weeks ago in our study, “In the Beginning”. I want, though, for us look at this from a different view today, with a different lens.
In Genesis 1, we read:
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1, NIV1984)
7 [T]he Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2, NIV1984)
We were made in God’s image — in His likeness!
Mankind, male and female, were made different from all other of God’s creation.
When God created everything else, it was “Let there be….” And, there was.
But with mankind, God created. God got His hands into the making of us! We were special. We were different. We were in His image.
So this morning, our identity begins in the fact that we were made in God’s image and likeness. What does that mean?
We have purpose.
Of all of creation, God gave mankind the responsibility of taking care of the rest of creation.
We have a purpose.
Too many, unfortunately, try the wrong things to find purpose in their lives.
Happiness with Regret
Source: Paul Sullivan, “Balancing the Benefit and the Burden of Wealth,” The New York Times (6-8-18)
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A New York Times article entitled “Can Money Buy Happiness?” notes the wealthy often struggle to balance the benefit and the burden of affluence. That conclusion comes from a new study on affluent Americans aged 25 to 65.
Interestingly, the data cited says that money can buy a certain kind of happiness. But that certain kind of happiness often comes with regrets. This survey indicated that many of these affluent Americans had deep regrets about the toll on their families as they accumulated their wealth.
Reporter Paul Sullivan summarized the study this way:
Affluent Americans ages 25 to 65 were asked a series of questions about their attitudes toward wealth. About half of all respondents said the sacrifices they had made to accumulate such wealth meant that they had spent less time with friends and family. That regret rose to nearly two thirds for people at the higher end of the wealth range in the study. More than half of business owners felt it too, outpacing people who had accumulated their wealth by working for someone else.
David Murphy, head of a wealth management firm said, “It’s the guilt over the time it took away from the family. There’s a lot of emotion built into growing the business and the time it takes to do that.”
ChatGPT prompt: In Genesis 1:26, God gave mankind purpose: to care for and watch over His creation. Please give me an illustration for my sermon about people looking or desiring purpose, and not finding that purpose in God
Imagine a young man named Alex who felt a deep emptiness despite having a successful career, a beautiful home, and many friends. He tried to fill this void by chasing various pursuits: he dove into his work, hoping promotions and accolades would bring fulfillment. He spent countless hours at the gym, sculpting his body, believing physical perfection would give him purpose. He traveled the world, seeking adventure and new experiences, thinking they would satisfy his longing.
Yet, no matter how much he achieved or how far he traveled, the emptiness persisted. He attended seminars on finding purpose, read countless self-help books, and even meditated, but nothing seemed to work. One day, feeling utterly lost, Alex wandered into a park and sat on a bench, head in his hands, overwhelmed by his sense of purposelessness.
An elderly man sat down next to him and struck up a conversation. Sensing Alex's distress, he shared his own story of searching for purpose in wealth, status, and self-improvement, only to find that nothing truly satisfied him until he turned to God.
He explained, "I realized that true purpose isn't something we create for ourselves; it's something given to us by our Creator. Just like a tool is designed for a specific function, we are designed by God to care for His creation and to live in relationship with Him. When I embraced that purpose, everything in my life fell into place. The emptiness was filled, not by my achievements, but by understanding and fulfilling the role God intended for me."
Alex pondered the elderly man's words and decided to explore this idea further. He began to read the Bible and pray, seeking to understand God's purpose for his life. Over time, Alex found a profound sense of peace and direction. His achievements and adventures took on new meaning, and his relationships deepened. He discovered that his true purpose was not found in the accolades of the world, but in living out the calling God had given him.
The quest for money and success can become hollow apart from a deeper purpose and mission in Christ.
The Daily Study Bible: Genesis, Vol. 1
Copyright 1981
By John C. L. Gibson
Pg 77
John Gibson, commentator and writer of The Daily Study Bible, Genesis, writes, “At this level, [the author of Genesis] wishes to make it clear that "man" had been chosen by God to fill a role in his purposes for the world that no other creature could fill.”
God gave us a unique purpose and a mission — It was to take care of what God had created — treat others well, treat the world well, be respectful of it.
We are also God’s representatives — a reflection of Him — here on this earth. God does not physically come down to earth, to walk around, to show Himself to mankind. He has us to do that. He made mankind to reflect who God is in all things, at all times.
And for each one of us, God has a special purpose for our lives. We each were created to do something for the kingdom, whether great or small.
So when you’re beginning to question who you are, and what you’ve been put here to do, remember that our purpose comes from the relationship we have with God.
2. We are spiritual in nature.
It is our spiritual nature that reflects God's own spiritual essence. This includes attributes like rationality, morality, and the ability to have a relationship with God.
Scripture said that God Himself breathed into us His spirit — giving us life!
We have been made to desire and want to connect with a higher being — our Creator — on a spiritual level. We desire more. We want to know more. And the good news is our Creator wants the same with us. Our spirit wants to know the Spirit of God.
Sadly, though, in our world, we fail to recognize and connect with our Creator.
Marionettes Debate the Reality of Their Maker
Source: Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? (Tyndale House, 1999), p. 97
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In William Steig's Yellow & Pink, a delightfully whimsical picture book for children, two wooden figures wake up to find themselves lying on an old newspaper in the hot sun. One figure is painted yellow, the other pink.
Suddenly, Yellow sits up and asks, "Do you know what we're doing here?"
So begins a debate between the two marionettes over the origin of their existence.
Pink surveys their well-formed features and concludes, "Someone must have made us."
Yellow disagrees. "I say we're an accident," and he outlines a hypothetical scenario of how it might have happened. A branch might have broken off a tree and fallen on a sharp rock, splitting one end of the branch into two legs. Then the wind might have sent it tumbling down a hill until it was chipped and shaped. Perhaps a flash of lightning struck in such a way as to splinter the wood into arms and fingers. Eyes might have been formed by woodpeckers boring in the wood.
"With enough time. A thousand, a million, maybe two and a half million years, lots of unusual things could happen," says Yellow. "Why not us?"
The two figures argue back and forth.
In the end, the discussion is cut off by the appearance of a man coming out of a nearby house. He strolls over to the marionettes, picks them up, and checks their paint. "Nice and dry," he comments, and tucking them under his arm, he heads back toward the house.
Peering out from under the man's arm, Yellow whispers in Pink's ear, "Who is this guy?"
It’s a sad state to look at God and wonder, who is this guy?
Since the beginning of time, mankind has tried to take the place of God — to fulfill that spiritual desire with self. Unfortunately, we are just not big enough to fill that gap that God placed in us. That hole can only be filled when our spirit connects with God’s spirit — when God comes to flood our lives with Himself.
Ourselves will never be big enough to fill that void that God put in our lives to be filled by Him.
3. We are relational.
God's image is reflected in our ability to form relationships. Just as God exists in a relational Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), humans are created to live in community and form loving relationships with one another and with God.
We are designed to have relationships with each other and with God.
We have to have relationships in our lives. Without relationships, we become lonely.
And, I’ll say it now, social media does not take the place of real interactions and relationships with people.
Facebook in a Crowd?By Hal Niedzviecki
Oct. 24, 2008
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/magazine/26lives-t.html
I read an interesting article in the New York Times Magazine. Before I tell you the story, I want to say that I do not condone the alcohol consumption in the article. However, the writer, Hal Niedzviecki, really drives home the point, I think, about our need for true relationships. He writes,
“One day this past summer, I logged on to Facebook and realized that I was very close to having 700 online “friends.” Not bad, I thought to myself, absurdly proud of how many cyberpals, connections, acquaintances and even strangers I’d managed to sign up.
“But the number made me uneasy as well. I had just fallen out with a friend I’d spent a lot of time with. I’d disconnected with a few other ones for the usual reasons: jobs in other cities, family life limiting social time. I was as much to blame as they were. I had a 2-year-old kid of my own at home. Add to that my workaholic irritability, my love of being left alone and my lack of an office environment or mysterious association with the Masons from which to derive an instant network of cronies. I had fewer friends to hang out with than I’d ever had before.
“So I decided to have a Facebook party. I used Facebook to create an “event” and invite my digital chums. Some of them, of course, didn’t live in Toronto, but I figured, it’s summer and people travel. You never know who might be in town. If they lived in Buffalo or Vancouver, they could just click “not attending,” and that would be that. Facebook gives people the option of R.S.V.P.’ing in three categories “attending,” “maybe attending” and “not attending.”
“After a week the responses stopped coming in and were ready to be tabulated. Fifteen people said they were attending, and 60 said maybe. A few hundred said not, and the rest just ignored the invitation altogether. I figured that about 20 people would show up. That sounded pretty good to me. Twenty potential new friends.
“On the evening in question I took a shower. I shaved. I splashed on my tingly man perfume. I put on new pants and a favorite shirt. Brimming with optimism, I headed over to the neighborhood watering hole and waited.
“And waited.
“And waited.
“Eventually, one person showed up.
“I chatted with my new potential friend, Paula, doing my best to pretend I wasn’t dismayed and embarrassed. But I was too self-conscious to be genuine. I kept apologizing for the lack of attendance. I looked over my shoulder every time the door opened and someone new came in. Paula was nice about it, assuring me that people probably just felt shy about the idea of making a new friend. She said she herself had almost decided not to come.
“And now you have me all to yourself,” I said, trying to sound beneficent and unworried. We smiled at each other awkwardly.
“We made small talk. I found out about her job, her boyfriend, her soccer team. Paula became my Facebook friend after noticing I was connected to a friend of hers. She thought it would be interesting to drop by and meet me.
"Eventually we ran out of things to say. Anyway, she had to work in the morning. I picked up the tab on her Tom Collins and watched as she strode out into the night, not entirely sure if our friendship would grow.
"After she left, I renewed my vigil, waiting for someone to show. It was getting on 11 o’clock and all my rationalizations, for example, that people needed time to get home from work, eat dinner, relax a bit were wearing out.
"I would learn, when I asked some people who didn’t show up the next day, that “definitely attending” on Facebook means “maybe” and “maybe attending” means “likely not.” So I probably shouldn’t have taken it personally. But the combination of alcohol and solitude turned my thoughts to self-pity. Was I really that big of a loser? Or was it that no one wants to get together in real life anymore? It wasn’t Facebook’s fault; all those digital pals were better than nothing. For chipping away at past friendships and blocking honest new efforts, you really have to blame the entire modern world. People want to hang out with you, I assured myself. They just don’t have the time.
“By now it was nearing midnight. My head was clouded by drink, and it was finally starting to sink in: no one else was coming. I’d have to think up some other way to revitalize my social life. I ordered one more drink.
“The beer arrived…. I raised my glass in a solitary toast and promised myself I’d spend less time online. Then I took a gulp: the beer was delicious but bittersweet. Seven hundred friends, and I was drinking alone.”
God made us uniquely different than the rest of creation. Only we desire and long for relationships with people and truly with Him.
That’s something of which we can be proud. God made us to want to have connections.
God understood that after he made Adam. God saw that Adam did not have an appropriate companion in the rest of creation. That is why God created Eve for Adam. God knew that we need relationships in our lives. God gave us the desire to connect with each other.
Essentially, God made us with the desire for connections so that we would connect with Him.
4. Because, you see, we are loved and we love.
But, as we said during our “In the Beginning” study, mankind broke the relationship with God. But that didn’t stop God from setting in motion from the very beginning a plan to fix our relationship with Him.
Understanding the Bible
Source: William Law in Christian Perfection (abridged and paraphrased by Marvin D. Hinten). Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 13.
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You know, too many intelligent people become preoccupied with dates and linguistic problems concerning the Bible that they have not time to seriously consider the Bible's main theme, God's love for us and our loving response to him. They seem so concerned for truth, yet neglect the real purpose of truth, which is to bring us closer to the God of truth.
The Bible is God’s love letter to us.
God truly loves you and me.
His own Son told us that in John 3:16:
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3, NIV1984)
John later writes in the letter of 1 John:
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. (1 John 3, NIV1984)
God did not want any of us to be separated from Him.
God cherishes, cares about and for us, and loves you and me.
God made us to want that love, but God also made us to let that love flow out from us, as a beacon of hope for the world around us.
Conclusion
This morning, part of our identity is grounded in the fact that God created you and me.
God created mankind. We were made especially in His image and in His likeness.
We have a purpose, just as God has a purpose for this world. We are spiritual, just as God is spirit. We are relational, wanting and desiring to be with other people and with God. We are loved, and we are to love.
We could also say here that God gave us His ability to create and dream of new things, and the hands to do those things. That is another way that we reflect God’s image and likeness. After all, He creatively made each one of us to be uniquely special.
These are all special characteristics that God gave mankind that He did not give to the rest of creation. These are characteristics of a loving God — a God who cared so much that He sent His son to die on the cross alone so that we might have life in Him.
If you are wondering who you are today, know that you are God’s special creation, made in His image, for His purpose and His love.
