We moaned, we groaned; yet, we watched. In the 1970’s viewers tuned in for the Gong Show with host Chuck Barris. It may have paved the way for reality TV. Contestants were gonged when their performances were bad; humiliated, they cringed at the sound of the gong. No cymbal could have such a menacing ring.

“If I could speak the languages of men, of angels too, and have no love, I am only a rattling pan or a clashing cymbal (1Corinthians 13:1 Williams New Testament).” God hears my empty words. I visualize angels hitting a gong and my exiting the scene with my head hung in shame. He is the God of second chances; he also says, “Well done…” (Matthew 25:21)