| About the only job almost as fun than being a youth leader has to be being in advertising. You actually get paid to be weird and come up with crazy ideas. But advertising does have its caste system. First, there are the elite brands that the hot shots and beer jocks worked on, like dot-com companies and Superbowl spots. Then there's the hoards of McPeople, dozens of talented art directors and writers whose life worked consisted on getting you to put two all beef patties on your buns. But the brands nobody liked to work on were saved for the bottom of the creative barrel, those who too burned-out to complain. The most dreaded brand of all was Hamburger Helper. Not eating it, just working on it! No one wanted to be associated with "the Hand." No writer wanted it on his or her resume that he was responsible for the Helping Hand wearing a sombrero while singing a jingle about cheesy taco bake. Nobody cared about the hand with the wrong amount of fingers. One of my co-workers, a Christian mind you-tried to kill the hand off, turning this writer into the agency's new hero. However, thanks to a focus group in Des Moines Iowa, the Hamburger Helper hand was resurrected. While the Hamburger Helper Hand is something I don't like to be associated with, the helping hand of God is a different story. The verse in Isaiah 59:1 sums it up well: Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short, That it cannot save, Neither is His ear so dull, That it cannot hear. It reminds me that no matter what at kind of mess I find myself in, or what kind of impossible situation a teen falls into, God is there to help. Especially with problems a lot bigger than "what's for dinner." Like the teen in your group who thinks a piece of gum will cover up the smell of a forty -ounce. Or the girl who is dabbling in Wicca or the kid who dropped out of school mentally. It's good to know that the hand that helps youth leaders in times of dire need isn't limited by four fingers and doesn't have a red rubber nose. But hopefully, every time you see the Helping Hand dancing in a commercial, on a package or in a coupon, may "it' be a reminder of the one hand that is there to help you 24/7. The Hand of God. | |
