So, is there anything we can learn about ourselves from the title of a magazine?  Though this is a more recent thought I’ve found myself captivated over the years by the various ways in which the outward manifestations of our lives have become more and more an indicator of our life’s inward realities.  Certainly we all are aware of how the decaying nature of our outer physical bodies slows us down as the years march on.  Just how often though do we stop to consider some of the other aspects of our lives that lead to what often appears to be myopic, degenerative inward living?  Perhaps we don’t have to look beyond the progression, or perhaps better said, the regression of magazine titles over the years to get some clues.  Just consider what’s been signaled over the years by the following titles from these magazine covers found at the corner newsstand; Life => Look => People => Us => Self. One could certainly conclude that over the course of time we have gone from the simpler days of Life only to find ourselves attempting to navigate the complexities of living as we’ve become inherently focused on Self.  I’m wondering if there is something here that begins to explain why we have become a more distant, less relational society?  I mean it we can’t pin it all on technology! Have you ever considered when we stopped to simply Look at the beauty of People choosing instead to have life be all about Us?  Are the titles of these magazines an outward manifestation of an inward reality indicating what we know to be true at the core of our being?  That we have moved from being an outward faced society to becoming one that is obsessively inwardly focused?  Does this give us any insight into why life just “isn’t what it used to be?” I know from experience that I tend to be more fully alive in those times when I am more concerned with the needs of others and less obsessed with my own shortcomings.  Perhaps in the end it’s time to return to Life as it is intended to be lived and experience the regenerative effects of simply serving the People in our midst.  Peace.