That man's thoughts on idols...

In the religious tradition I come from, we talk about how we can place certain things in our lives that become idols, things we worship over what is most important. I have sometimes wondered: "How do we really know when something has become an idol to us?" Well perhaps what happened to me today is a good description.
I must say, I think we can know something has become an idol to us when it becomes a part of our decision making, maybe even becomes part of our natural responses even when it shouldn't be. I know this doesn't totally make sense so let me illustrate.

today i was eating lunch with my friend Charlotte. We had just finished and were walking in front to our next destinations when this lady walks towards us and begins to stumble. The heel of her shoe got caught in a groove in the concrete causing her shoe to twist and throw off her balance.

A perplexed look crossed the ladies face as she began to stumble. she was probably in her late forties, early fifties, a bit overweight, and dressed nicely. I say this to point to the fact that she was not an athletic person, and it was likely that she had not done many acrobatic kinds of things in quite some time. I don't mean to be rude here, she looked like a grandma who's best athletic years seemed to be behind her and thus stumbling and catching herself might be more challenging for her than someone twenty years her junior.
everything seemed to pay out in slow motion. It was like a big redwood being chopped over. the axe digs splinters the wood, the tree cracks and slowly the tree begins to sway, then it starts to lean, then it starts to move, all the while filling the air with cracks and snaps. At first one who watches the tree may not be certain if anything is happening, but in a matter of moments, it becomes apparent that the tree is coming down. This is kind of how the lady went. The shoes twisted, she looked perplexed and began to lean. A quick huffle of feet did not dorrect the slight lean which became a larger lean, which led to a more pronounced lean and an utterance of primal exclamation which usually is either an expletive or just a guttural noise. In her case it was: "UUUUUUUHHHHHHH!"
Charlotte and I watched this lady stumbling towards us and for a moment I wasn't sure if she'd need my help, but her momentum began to pick up and she was heading right towards me. At the last minute, I reached out my right hand, that ahd my keys in it and slid it under her right armpit. This helped steady her. She said thank you, and to many aroudn us, I was a hero.
I actually felt good about myself until i played the scene again in my head like Tom Cruise in the Last Samurai. and this is where my intial point about idols comes in to this story.
In my replay, i see the lady, dressed in her black flower print blouse, black slacks and wide heeled black dress shoes, stumbling towards me, her momentume carrying her inevitably towards me, or destruction. Replay me is wondering if she needs my help. Replay me barely has time to think, it is really only a time for instinct. Replay me reaches his right hand out and this is not the part that disturbs me. it's what i do with my left hand...
You see, in my left hand was a big 32 oz cup of coca cola. In this brief instinctual moment, one could see my priority, for as my right hand was reaching out, (the hand that was holding my keys by the way), my left hand was sliding the cola away as if to protect it!
Do you see the idolatry? would a normal person who did not idolize cola simply throw it away and do their best to help this dear lady? I think they might. but i'm not a normal person, In one simultaneous and instinctual moment, I reached out with one hand to help the lady in distress but made darn sure with the other that my Cola would be safe. How dear has cola become to me? It was like: "Help the lady...Protect the Cola!!!!!"
I think it is little moments like these that sometimes tell us of our idolatry. Little moments where we do things to protect something we love even though it would be better if we didn't. I mean c'mon, it's not like they wouldn't have given me a free refill.
Well, I gotta conclude and say, many around me told me I was a hero, but I knew the truth. I am a hero who worships at the altar of Cola..... It just goes to show you, While doing a dangerous activity around me, make sure i don't have Cola near me, you never know...You might be on your own.... :(