Gideon Checked In

I know the name Gideon mostly because of the Bibles that I used to find in hotel rooms.

Gideon International, which put distributes bibles in hotel rooms, was formed in 1899 when two Christian sales wound up sharing a hotel room. Nearly every single hotel in the country put a Bible in their rooms, but that number has been coming down.

However, Travel + Leisure reported in 2017 that bibles have been disappearing from hotels because Millennials are the least religious generation in the U.S., according to a study by San Diego State University.

Still, if you really want to read Scripture, you can access the good word on your phone as roughly 98% of hotels off in-room Wi-Fi.

Gideon gets a mention in Beatles 1968 song “Rocky Raccoon,” which Paul McCartney started writing in Rishikesh, India, where the band was studying Transcendental Meditation.

The song was originally called “Rocky Sassoon,” but McCartney reportedly changed the title to because he though “Rocky Raccoon” sound more like a cowboy.

Gideon was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites was recounted in the Book of Judges.

I became interested in Gideon through watching the televangelist Joel Osteen. Now I have a lot of complaints about the guy, starting off with his lavish lifestyle, that includes a mansion and a $300,000 Jaguar.

Osteen pushes the “prosperity gospel,” which teaches that material wealth is indicative of God's blessing on a person's life.

Personally, I think your life is the biggest indication of God’s blessing and if you want to buy a Jaguar, just go ahead and do it, but leave God out of it.

There’s also the controversy involving $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks that were later found by a plumber fixing a toilet.

And then there’s Hurricane Harvey fiasco in 2017 where his megachurch was supposedly inaccessible due to flooding until social media posts indicated otherwise.

So, yes, there are a ton of reasons why I should hate his guts and have absolutely nothing to do with him.

And, yet, despite all that, I do enjoy his sermons, or messages as he likes to call them.

Changing the Mind

He has a positive take on religion—so critics say he’s essentially a self-help guru—and after eight years of Catholic school I find a positive Christian message quite refreshing.

I’m accustomed to nuns telling me what a satanic little scumbag I am, so it’s nice to get religion without getting clobbered or humiliated.

I watch his show on Sunday mornings while eating my breakfast after coming home from the gym. I'm tired, hungry, and feel like taking it easy.

Osteen has discussed Gideon a few times in his broadcasts. In the story, God sends an angel to a rather terrified Gideon to go fight the Midianites, telling him, “The Lord is with you, mighty hero.”

Gideon went on to win a decisive victory over a Midianite army despite being heavily outnumbered.

It’s an inspiring story and something I greatly appreciate, given all my negativity and irrational fears that have held me back in so many areas.

Osteen’s larger theme involving changing your mental diet, so you’re not feeding yourself poisonous, unhealthy thoughts.

I’ve been working on changing my attitude for a very long time and I’ve made a little progress.

Last week I got a chance to observe my mind during a morning meditation. I was in a very peaceful place, but this one part of my brain wanted to get angry about something.

I honestly forget what it was now, but I was pleasantly surprised at how I was able to contain my shadow self.

This latest scare with the stent has been forcing me tone down the anger. I’ve been watching what I eat and what I think, although today I caught myself slipping back to old, hostile thought patterns.

Fear is a large part of anger and hostility. Being afraid to change or take a risk leads to frustration, which results in a whole lot of self-loathing.

So, I’m going back on my diet and get in touch with my inner Gideon. Who knows? If I succeed, God might give me a Jaguar.