Imitating Elvis

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2023 Blog #5

January 30, 2023

Imitating Elvis

Last Friday I had the privilege of attending a show at the Englewood PAC. I have been there before and have never been disappointed by their performances. This show was of two Elvis impersonators and seemed somehow timely since Elvis’ daughter died so recently. One impersonator played the younger Elvis while the other played the older one. The outfits were different and the music was different. There was two distinct performances but each was good.

I have always had a heart for good impersonation. When I was young I enjoyed the satire of David Frey and Rich Little. Of course, at every stage of my education there were people who could mimic teachers and be very popular because of their abilities. These performances were not meant to be flattering to those who were being imitated, unlike the Elvis performance which had the aim of honoring Elvis and paying tribute to his life and music.

Rich Little is still doing comedy but David Frey died about a year ago. Of course, Elvis has been dead for decades. I wish that we still had him with us. I suppose that in one sense we do have him. We have his music, we have videos of his performances. we have those who strive to imitate him to give us the feeling that we had the privlige of attending an Elvis concert.

During the performance it seemed obvious that these two performers, really loved and respected Elvis. For them their performances almost seemed like labors of love. I was once told that imitation is the best form of flattery. I guess that this shows the admiration that these two had for Elvis.

Whom do we imitate? Whom do we love enough to model our lives after? I do hope that we all accept the challenge to imitate Jesus the risen Lord. For some of us this is an obligation. Those of us who call ourselves “Christian” have a special obligation to imitate Jesus. If we love him we must imitate him. This is a vow that we took when we chose to be part of his church.

People who are not Christian still might be moved to imitate Jesus. Even if they do not believe that he is divine or the savior of the world, they might think that he is a teacher who is worthy of being imitated.

Are we willing to imitate Jesus? Are we willing to be positive change agents in the world? Are we willing to pray for people who claim to be our enemies? Are we willing to bless those who curse us? Are we willing to seek reconciliation with those who have hurt us or those who we believe have hurt us?

We celebrate those who imitate Elvis. Perhaps we can make the world a better place by imitating Jesus. The world will be a better place when we all imitate Jesus. We will never do it perfectly, but the world will be better because we tried.

May we all strive to make our lives imitate Jesus.

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

#BergenPAC                                                             #Elvis

#Jesus                                                                       #ImitationOfChrist

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book:https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/