Being wary of appearances

I enjoy a brisk walk, which I manage to achieve most days of the week. It's a bit more of a challenge in the extreme heat, so I tend to amble in the early morning or well after dark. Typically, I'll listen to an old radio drama on my cell phone as I traverse around Jackson.

Most recently, I've been listening to a 1953 NBC serial called "The Six Shooter," starring James Stewart (1908-1997) -- one of the stars of Hollywood's so-called "Golden Age."

Stewart plays Britt Ponset, an easygoing drifter from the Old West whose character exhibits a rock-solid sense of morality and ethics.

Ponset is also a legendary, albeit reluctant, gunfighter.

He never starts a quarrel, but he is liable to end one.

The writers of the show introduce the listener to antagonists who fail to take Ponset seriously because of his nonconfrontational nature.

They sometimes end up paying for their mistake with their lives, which the show's protagonist is always reluctant to take.

Stewart's voice, with its laconic, almost lazy drawl, seems perfect for the role.

In Iistening to episode after episode, I can't imagine any actor more convincing.

Deception

The best actors confuse audiences about who they are in real life.

James Stewart starred in a number of Westerns, but he was not from the West.

In fact, the performer's origins are far from the frontier.

He grew up in my home region of western Pennsylvania, a place as far from cowpokes, cattle rustlers and gunslingers as it is possible to get in what once was referred to as "the lower 48" states.

Stewart didn't grow up on a dude ranch; the actor was not reared as a cowboy in any sense of the term.

He was the son of a hardware store owner in the small town of Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Stewart went off to New Jersey -- to Princeton, one of America's elite Ivy League universities; later, he spent significant time in the armed forces, reaching the rank of brigadier general.

I've been in Stewart's hometown more than once.

He grew up there; so did I.

People from our part of the world don't speak in a drawl; our dialect is harsh and clipped, eschewing vowels. Stewart's regional upbringing is largely hidden on screen save for the way he pronounces words containing the vowel "o."

The actor said such words with the distinct accent common to folks in and around Pittsburgh.

Unless you knew better, though, you'd never guess actor James Stewart didn't grow up as the very incarnation of a character from a Western novel.

But he was an actor who played various roles -- an Easterner who often gave the impression he grew up on prairie dust.

Separating real from fiction

Years ago, I interviewed Steve Railsback, who played convicted murderer Charles Manson in the 1976 television movie "Helter Skelter."

In a Pittsburgh hotel room where publicists had arranged an availability for reporters, we had the chance to speak with Railsback, who by that time was on a 1980 press tour promoting the film "The Stunt Man," co-starring Peter O'Toole.

In my recollection, the Railsback I met was soft-spoken, friendly, conversational and pleasant.

I was stunned because the actor seemed nothing like the crazed failed musician whose "family" took the lives of nine people in the summer of 1969.

Told he was so convincing as Manson, Railsback admitted to me and other reporters present that day his role was a good one to play, but it was just a part.

Facades

It's noteworthy to observe how often the Bible references those who put up fronts, who play parts in public nowhere close to their private lives, which the biblical witness tells us God sees through even if human beings don't.

There are several examples, but I'll confine this column to three, from various translations as noted individually below:

• "Everything (the scribes and Pharisees) do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra-long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called 'Rabbi.' Don't let anyone call you 'Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don't address anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for only God in heaven is your Father. And don't let anyone call you 'Teacher,' for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant." (Matthew 23:5-11/New Living Translation)
• "As (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?' But Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.' And he said to Him, 'Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.' Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him,

'One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But he [a]was deeply dismayed by ]these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property." (Mark 10:17-22/New American Standard)

The most powerful illustration of the three is culled from the Hebrew Bible, what Christians tend to call the Old Testament.

• "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" (I Samuel 16:7/New International Version)

Goal

It would be well to listen to the guidance given to old Samuel, who ended up choosing the boy David as Israel's king -- a lad even David's father didn't think was royal material. We ought to try to see what God sees, not what other folks think is important. It's tough to do because we tend to rely on recommendations, which should not be immediately disparaged. Maybe the advice here is not to discount your own judgment -- and the wisdom gleaned from personal discernment and prayer.