I tire of the news. Am I alone? I don’t think so. Maybe I ought to clarify more of what I mean. I tire of bad news. I tire of mainstream media news. I tell myself I should just quit listening to it. I have one app on my phone where I sometimes read the news. I definitely don’t find myself listening to or reading any of the mainstream media news, and that TV show that has the female talking heads- (who to quote a Tommy James song from the ’60s-“Talk and signify and say nothing)? Not a chance. To be honest, I have better things to do with my time than watch mainstream media news-like watch grass grow or twiddle my thumbs or (here is something novel)-READ!
Part of my problem is I need to know what is going on in the world so I can converse and not act so ignorant when people talk about current events. But there are so many political, cultural, and ecclesiastical events which occur every day. I sometimes feel like an owl with my head spinning in circles. I no longer digest one event that another smacks me in the face. Someone has snarkily said, “If if wasn’t for the bad news there wouldn’t be any news at all.” That’s not totally true but it sure seems like it.
The problem as I see it-and I’m not expert-is that the media has seemed to have already doomed us from the start. Their viewpoint is that the world we live in is an out-of-control mess and there isn’t much we can do about it. No sense in fighting it because there is no chance to change it. And in some ways I agree. Our world will not be changed by a law, a treaty, a tariff/no tariff, a deal/no deal, a ruler/party in power, or any such action. But I am not a doom-and-gloomer type of person. I’m well over a 90+% positive person. But do I think the world will get better? No, not really. It may make progress but humans being who we are-humans-we will eventually revert to our old sinful desires.
There really is only ONE who can change things and there really is only one way it will happen. When we sing the Christmas song “Let there be peace on earth” it all sounds good. But only when Jesus reigns supreme will there be the peace we so desire. I DO KNOW THIS: God has not been and never will be dethroned. It may look like it. But He is still on the throne. All the talking heads can ignore or deny Him, but I will choose to stand with Him. Remember that old song? “He’s got the whole world in His hands”? I still believe that.
Soapbox dismissed.
If you’ve already read my blog today, Bill, you know I wrote about media and the news, too, and freely admitted that I’m a one-trick pony when it comes to a news source. God is the source of all good news, and His story will be the one to prevail in the end. Blessings!
I did! Even commented. 🙂
News. Less than a year ago I chose to take a 10 week hiatus in consuming news.
I have been convinced recently that we as humans were not really meant to consume as much information as we do.
I see the Internet, in many ways, as the current day Tower of Babel. The “Tree of Knowledge” even. Man trying to become more and more self sufficient and like God. Even to the point of attempting to create in our own image, AI for example. I will steal the phrase from John Eldridge… We have become disciples of the Internet.
I try to limit my news consumption. I avoid commentary where I can. I pull from 3 sources at the moment, FoxNews, CNN, and BBC. The first two because they are polar opposites and the 3rd to give me an outside perspective. I rarely if ever “watch” the news as I can skim headlines to determine if it is something I want to spend time on. I then take a look at local news and hit two or 3 headlines. All in all, I spend less than 10-15 minutes a day on it.
So gut check time… I use to spend much longer time in the news… and then i realized, I was spending more time in the news that in the Bible. Anyone feel that?
I have asked myself that question from time to time Ryan. i come up short. I totally agree with you though on the other. We consume way too much news. My heart and mind can’t absorb that much. I prefer to go back into my cave and read.
I do not watch mainstream media news. I have a few places I go for news, its hard to find true reports without leaning to one side or the other. When I am praying for sad events, or disturbing news, God always reminds me to pray for both the victims and the perpetrator. At first I thought that is so hard. God reminds me, if there is no heart change in the perpetrator, then they will always find new victims. Every heart change, and transformation has to start with prayers. I also have to remind myself, that God is always in control. I may not understand the situation, or the whys, but I trust in God, and I know God’s throne is unshakeable. I will also join you in standing with God.
I think your approach to praying for the victims as well as the perps is a good idea, Gail. both are injured. Hurting people hurt people. And yes, God is always in control.