The young star appeared on the field in a glare of lights as the restless crowd rushed the barriers keeping them at bay. Nearly one-hundred thousand fans had waited for this very moment, some of them for seven hours. Thousands were soon at him, a twenty-five-year-old with a broad smile and a lock of blond hair across his face. Riot police tried vainly to keep the mob under control, and some of the fans ended up under foot.
The New York Times called it a “frenzy”, reporting that “at midnight 150,000 people were trying to get to or from Le Bourget, and there were frequent exhibitions of temper which acted as a great contrast to the enthusiastic joy which greeted the arrival of the American…”
What did this celebrity do to so captivate the Parisians? What entertainment drove them to such fervor? What was his big break, and who discovered this mail-carrier turned celebrity?
“Well, I made it,” he beamed. And did he ever! He was a sensation. And on May 21, 1927, at 10:16 p.m., after 33 1/2 arduous hours in a cramped cockpit, Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis in Paris, becoming the first to fly an airplane solo across the Atlantic.
It sometimes seems that what Lindbergh elicited from the world in 1927 with accomplishment can only be replicated today by amusement. We live in a day that rewards entertainment more than accomplishment.
Am I suggesting that amusement is wrong? No. I am simply saying that entertainment is not the king we have made it. I am saying that parents who make amusement their chief pastime will rear children who will make it their chief ambition. I am saying that we are raising children who aspire to fame instead of being inspired by greatness.
We erect schools to teach our children, but we grow weary if these schools do not entertain them. We observe the politics that shape our laws with amusement. Most tragically, we attend church but are content to let our spirits starve so long as our ears are tickled.
It is time for parents to rise up and rear children who aspire to more than celebrity status. We need heroes who will change the world and not merely entertain or amuse us. In order to do that, we parents will need to take a look at our own priorities. We need to value the virtues we wish our kids to live.
Our children’s ambitions will be a reflection of our values.