• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • United Church Funds
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Wellness Ministries
            • Scouting
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • Global H.O.P.E.: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • Into the Mystic
  • Trumpery

Trumpery

by John Dorhauer | published on Jun 6, 2022

Listen to the podcast

Read the transcript

Trumpery – by definition an attractive article of little value or use; something that is showy but worthless.

Isaiah asks “why do you spend your life on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy?”

Well.

There are days when I feel like my life is filled with trumpery.

Sometimes I find myself scrolling through online shopping sites thinking, wow, that looks really cool. And they are going to ship it for free? I know I don’t need that, but how can I resist? I’m willing to admit, sometimes I fall prey to this and give in to the temptation. Rarely does it satisfy. Trumpery.

I once bought a trail bike when I was living in Arizona. It looked rugged and sturdy. I bought it used and couldn’t believe the price I was getting it for. The first time I took it out on the trails it started falling apart I had to carry it home. I never rode it again. Trumpery.

I have a whole rack of ties in my closet. I will be shopping and see a pattern or a color I know I don’t have and think, “someday I am going to need that exact color” and so I buy it. When I realize I don’t have a shirt or a pair of socks or just the right shade of pants to match it – well, you know. That tie will sit for years before I wear it. Trumpery.

One time, I met a guy on the first tee of a golf course and we would end up matching up and playing a round together. While we waited for the group in front of us to clear, he started bragging about his new clubs. I will admit, they were pretty top of the line and fancy. Next, he bragged about his new ball. It was so advanced in its technology that it came with a lifetime guarantee. Man, he thought that was the best. Sure, he said, he paid more for it but it was guaranteed for life. Bragged about how if the ball got a cut or scrape all he had to do was mail it back and get a new one. When the fairway cleared, he took out his brand new top of line clubs, teed up that expensive but life-time guaranteed ball, and promptly hit it about 100 deep into the forest just to the right of the tee box. Man, did I laugh at that. Trumpery.

I love playing in my wood shop. And when I walk through a hardware store, all I can see are tools I don’t have that I know someday I am going to need. I have a workshop full of really cool tools, some of which I use over and over again; some of which sit there looking shiny and new for years that I never touch and wonder why I even bought them or what I thought I would ever do with them. Trumpery.

Baubles and trinkets and doodads and devices and knickknacks and ornaments and gewgaws and frippery and playthings and trifles abound and attract and allure and entice. Rarely do they satisfy. Such is the nature of mere trumpery, and of our proclivity to be taken in by it.

Indeed, one might again ask: why do you spend your life for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy.

In the end, I don’t know that there is any real harm in trumpery. The emptiness of it will not satisfy, and the attractiveness being only on the surface it will almost always disappoint. But no one is going to suffer any great loss buying a trinket that collects dust only to be discarded after a season.

Eventually we learn that. We discover that the things that last are worth our time and devotion. Friendship and love, trustworthiness and integrity, compassion and kindness, laughter and joy – and so many things besides. May your life be filled with a sense of purpose and value. May you avoid the distraction of trumpery. And may your encounters along the way with people and moments and memories be what occupy your interests and time on this, our journey Into the Mystic.

Categories: Column Into the Mystic

Sign Up For Our Newsletter








Privacy Policy






Related News

Witness for Justice

“Large” Policy

One hundred and twenty-five years ago, the United States was in the throes of a most vibrant...

Read More
Witness for Justice

Profits Over Responsibility

The climate crisis has been identified as the most pressing global issue of our time. Global...

Read More
Witness for Justice

I Want to Believe… that Economic Justice is Out There

Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
    • How can I find local churches near me? Click here!
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative