THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS

Young and old alike, today we confront the same central mystery of life. How to understand our increasingly complicated world? We read, we listen, we ponder, we pray. But exactly how can we best make sense of so much complexity coming at us so fast?

How about this. How about seeing everything in terms of what it has actually become -- show business? Seriously! Something like a physicist sees his universe within the framework of quantum mechanics, maybe we need to see our society within the framework of the entertainment world.

At first that seems counter-intuitive. After all, the history of show business starts poorly. For centuries it was mostly court jugglers and jesters. Later, vagabond carnivals and riverboats. Even by the early 20th C, its minstrel singers and vaudeville actors were hardly among society's elite.

But now...!

With 101 fan magazines and scores of glitzy award ceremonies, show people have become society's creme de la creme. Welcomed by popes and royalty, honored at universities and the White House, its members are sought after, their every word or fashion a gem.

It's here's where life becomes show business and show business becomes life. You see, today, everyone has become a performer. Presidents, senators, court justices, generals, news anchors, coaches, players and clergy alike. No one dares go out there presenting them self to the public just as they are. Not good enough. Presidents need cued lights and fanfares, senators work the cameras among the DC news crews, court justices stage campus events for their latest book, reporting generals are rehearsed, news anchors and their on-location team hit the airwaves with all the fuss of a Hollywood sound-stage. As for the coaches, players and preachers, well they've learned how to play the audience and sell their product with as much zeal as most rock groups.

The name of the game, folks, is show business. Because the American public has come to believe Irving Berlin was right: "There's no business like show business/no people like show people."

Only thing is, the real world out there is actually a lot more than just a stage; and the people running it need to be a lot more than just good performers. Beneath the make-up, there better be some real substance. If not, this show's run may be a lot shorter than we hoped for.