Chris Clegg
In a Peanuts cartoon years ago, Linus is reading a newspaper. He tells Lucy, “I never realized the world was in such sad shape.”
“What are you reading, the front page?” asks Lucy.
“No, the movie ads!” says Linus.
In another cartoon, Linus remarks on how to keep children happy.
“Don’t show them any newspapers for the first five years,” he says.
A disclaimer: these two cartoons may not be printed word for word but are close. The meaning is not changed.
Quite frankly, the news in the mainstream national media is horrific. If you can wade through the muck and bovine excrement that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump create, you get to even worse news.
There is the tragedy in Myanmar and Bangladesh. North Korea. The fighting in Yemen and Syria. The Catholic Church scandals. Killing, scandal, mistrust, crime, death! Yikes!
The fact is, given any time period, there are several wars occurring at any time. Political upheaval. People in a position of trust molesting children, youth and women.
It is all enough to make you want to crawl under the bed and hide.
It is even more distressing to know all these tragic events are caused by the highest form of life on this planet – humans!
Well, supposedly the highest form of life!
The media bombards us with these tragic events day after day, week after week, year after year. What does it say about the public that they can’t seem to get enough of these stories? Many people are completely infatuated with Trump, I am sure they would go into withdrawal if he disappeared.
Make no mistake about it! These stories create ratings, which create more money for the networks. The end result is that humans are responsible for this mess.
Yet, through it all there is hope, plenty of hope. We should never forget all the people who are striving to do good work to make life better for others.
For every Myanmar and Bangladesh, there are stories of leaders making a difference and improving the quality of life for its citizens.
For every war, there are peacemakers, people trying to avoid it.
Unfortunately, sometimes you have to go to war to fight evil and pay the price. Remember Hitler?
And our battered churches! It seems we are bombarded with news of molesting in the church. Yet, for every incident reported, we must remember there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of churches in the world doing excellent work, helping people and providing hope in a world seemingly filled with despair.
In addition to the church, many people volunteer or work for other organizations who provide humanitarian or social services needs to those less fortunate. If we look around our community, you see many of them.
Yes, the news can be sad. It can be depressing. Don’t let it get you down. The next time you watch the news and see another tragedy, another war, or another scandal, don’t go hiding under the bed. Remember there are many people in our world doing good work to help others.
Remember, the vast majority of human beings are essentially good people.
And here’s a little advice from Linus.
Don’t read the movie ads!