News Slant

Diana and the family return tomorrow from the Texas wedding of our niece.  I’m on a mission today to get things ready for their return – lawn mowed, spare room readied, basement cleaned, flowers purchased.  At the moment I’m taking a rest and looking over the news headlines.  Conservative or liberal, left or right, republican or democrat, Christian or not, each news agency has its own slant of how they want us to see the world.  Personally I find the gloom, the fear, the sadness disheartening and wonder if there might be a better way. 

 C.S. Lewis had his own slant on the news.  He felt, particularly for young people, that the news wasn’t worthwhile.  “Even in peacetime I think those are very wrong who say that schoolboys should be encouraged to read the newspapers. Nearly all that a boy reads there in his teens will be seen before he is twenty to have been false in emphasis and interpretation, if not in fact as well, and most of it will have lost all importance. Most of what he remembers he will therefore have to unlearn; and he will probably have acquired an incurable taste for vulgarity and sensationalism and the fatal habit of fluttering from paragraph to paragraph to learn how an actress has been divorced in California, a train derailed in France, and quadruplets born in New Zealand.”

 Henry Nouwen’s slant is altogether different.  He encourages us to see beyond the bad and hear instead the gladness that belongs to God.  “I am not accustomed to rejoicing in the things that are small, hidden and scarcely noticed by the people around me.  I am generally ready and prepared to receive bad news, to read about wars, violence and crimes, and to witness conflict and disarray…Somehow I have become accustomed to living with sadness, and so have lost the eyes to see the joy and the ears to hear the gladness that belongs to God and which is to be found in the hidden corners of the world.

 I have a friend who is so deeply connected with God that he can see joy where I expect only sadness.  He travels much and meets countless people.  When he returns home, I always expect him to tell me about the difficult economic situation of the countries he visited, about the great injustices he heard about, and the pain he has seen.  But even though he is very aware of the great upheaval of the world, he seldom speaks of it.  When he shares his experiences, he tells about the hidden joys, he has discovered.  He tells about a man, a woman, or a child who brought him hope and peace.  He tells about little groups of people who are faithful to each other in the midst of all the turmoil.  He tells about the small wonders of God.  At times I realize that I am disappointed because I want to hear ‘newspaper news,’ exciting and exhilarating stories that can be talked about among friends.  But he never responds to my need for sensationalism.  He keeps saying, ‘I saw something very small and very beautiful, something that gave me great joy.’”