"Turn Off the News"

When people find out I was a news reporter, inevitably they will say, 'Oh, I don't watch the news, it's too depressing. They only put the bad stuff on there.' And I totally agree. It is depressing and if you work in news you know, 'if it bleeds it leads.' Sad, I know.

For awhile I subscribed to that same theory. After I was laid off from the tv station and didn't have to cover the news everyday, I didn't watch the news for a few months! It felt so good to not hear about all the horrible things around me. Working in news made me paranoid, it made me more cynical, jaded. I'd always looked at people and thought they were mostly good; the more news I covered the faster my opinion ran in the opposite direction.

At my current job (have I told you how much I LOVE my job and how thankful I am for it? Cause I am.) we keep the tv in the lobby on FOX news all day. I literally almost started crying at my desk today after hearing all the death and destruction headlines. I was overwhelmed with how dark our world is.

In the past few months God has been dealing with me and my 'turn off the news' attitude. Turning off the news doesn't make the bad stuff go away. Ignoring it doesn't help. If I turn off the news and turn on some mindless, happy show...how is that a better use of my time, really? I'm not here in this world for my comfort, I'm here to glorify Him and show Him to others. Who needs him more than the hurt and the lost? If I was in Egypt, if I was in China, if I was in Haiti...would I want people to turn my news off simply because 'it's depressing to hear about?' No! Of course it's depressing to hear about...but can you imagine living it??

As Americans, we are so spoiled that we take for granted the freedoms and safety we have. If you've never been to a third world country, if you've never seen a hungry orphan drink water from a dirty storm drain, if you've never seen people scared to death of being beaten/killed by crooked police officers, if you've never seen a pregnant woman hide for fear the government will find her and kill her baby...go. Go to the hard places. You'll be a better person because of it. That is the reality millions face every day. And we - myself included - complain because we have to HEAR about it!

I truly believe that we, as Americans and as part of the 'modernized' western world, will not be apart from this harsh reality forever. It's coming our way. We are not immune to the world's problems. So maybe it's time we start listening to them. Maybe it's time we watch the news and take even five minutes to pray for what breaks our hearts. Think about what a difference it could make! Next time you think about 'turning off the news,' don't. Stop. Pray. Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His. Ask Him to show you how to pray for what you see. Ask God to show you how to help. Wouldn't you want someone to do that for you?

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." Helen Keller


PS God likes to pop this verse in my head in those times when I know I should watch, I know I should pray, and I just don't feel like it:

On the last day, Jesus will say to those on His right hand, "Come, enter the Kingdom. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited me." Then Jesus will turn to those on His left hand and say, "Depart from me because I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink, I was sick and you did not visit me." These will ask Him, "When did we see You hungry, or thirsty or sick and did not come to Your help?" And Jesus will answer them, "Whatever you neglected to do unto one of these least of these, you neglected to do unto Me."