Life Lessons from The Love Boat
While researching website-login options recently, I stumbled onto a FoxNews article/slideshow featuring a Then-And-Now look at the cast from 1980s television’s legendary The Love Boat. (Yes, I can still tell you it was on ABC at 9:00 PM on Saturday nights, right before Fantasy Island. And YES, I can still sing the theme song top to bottom… even though I was barely alive for the show, of course.)
Seeing present-day pictures of these celebrities–older, and, naturally, without some of the youthful sheen of their younger celebrity selves–was a striking reminder to me of how fleeting our achievements and lives can be. Not that they had gone on to unsuccessful or ignoble lives–more or less to the contrary, in fact. But simply that the ostensible glory of celebrity (and the accolades that may be attributed to even the most successful and famous among us) can so easily be forgotten or discarded by fickle hearts or a new generation of fans. It was a good reminder to me about keeping priorities straight and keeping myself small in my own eyes.
One final thought. It intrigued me that the cast member who received perhaps the most gracious nod in the FoxNews article was Gavin MacLeod, the actor who portrayed Captain Steubing. Their short caption on his life since The Love Boat honored achievements and success that spoke mostly to MacLeod’s character rather than fame or celebrity:
“During the show, Mcleod [sic], now 79, became a born-again Christian, and eventually remarried his first wife. Most recently, he starred in the Christian film ‘The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.’ He’s also the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, California. Not bad!”
May the celebratory refrain of each of our biographies be less about the achievement of fame and glory and more about our obvious character growth, the spirit of reconciliation and healing that marks our relationships, and the unlikely respect and esteem of the watching world that we have made better.
Love,… exciting and new,
Bob
