I was rifling through a stack of giveaway records at Baylor’s Moody Library. It was clear why they were being given away and why the pile was still large. They were a bunch of bad records. I went through the pile twice thinking I might find a gem, but my first instincts were correct. There was no record that needed to be rescued from that pile.
I did notice one label, “Deccalite, unbreakable under normal use.” The first thing I thought was that this would be true of almost any product. Anything that was used normally should be safe. I’ve seen crystal goblets that are 1500 years old. They are still delicate and beautiful. If all you do is pick up the glass and drink from it, it is in no jeopardy. If, however, it is grasped roughly and dropped, then no one would be surprised to find a pile of glass instead of a vessel.
I researched the term Deccalite. It was introduced after WW2 by the Decca recording company. it was a special blend of vinyl and was replacing the older and more brittle shellac. Shellac “is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand.” It takes lots of work to harvest. After the war it was in short supply. The record companies had to innovate. Unfortunately, the new materials can’t really compete with the old which was, “resilient, resistant to solvents, nonpoisonous, odorless, and biodegradable” (Berenbaum, Ninety-nine More Maggots, Mites, and Munchers, 27).
We often trade problems. We swap out the new for the old. We select cheaper instead of the more expensive. The last place that color TVs were produced in America was here in Athens. The motto was "most expensive television set in America, and darn well worth it.” Unfortunately, America did not agree. The plant was closed, the jobs outsourced and eventually, the company shuttered. Our yearning for cheaper is one of the causes of job loss and hardship. There is a price to be paid.
We need to constantly be asking ourselves if we are willing to pay the right price. There is no low cost way to parent. There is no free pathway to influence. In a passage where Jesus is telling us to count the cost, he concludes saying, “those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (Luke 14:33).