Hope Beyond the Headlines
by Steve Watters on 06/30/2008 at 10:53 AM
How's your June going? For those readers in the Northern Hemisphere, have you been able to enjoy some summertime relaxation? Or have recent news headlines robbed you of peace? All the talk about the weather, the economy, gas prices, and more led an AP writer recently to ask "Is Everything Spinning out of Control?" I enjoyed Michael Craven's response to these anxiety inducing headlines in his commentary today for the Center for Christ & Culture:
Of course the "news of the day," as Neil Postman observed, is a "figment of our technological imagination. It is ... a media event" (Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, p. 8). It is a concentrated compilation of the most distressing, sordid, and scandalous events that appeal to our voyeuristic tendencies and heighten our sense that "everything is spinning out of control."
For many Christians, this sense of frustration with the country's direction is not all that new and recent events, as well as the news, have only exacerbated their concerns. However, I am amazed at the level of pessimism among so many Christians that I encounter. I think this may also be a product of too much reliance on politics. This is, after all, the pressing concern of the population whose frustrations center mostly on the failed expectations of their political leaders and government: the economy, the war, fuel prices, and so on. Add to that concerns over the moral direction of the nation, and the church often appears indifferent or defeated.
This is puzzling to me. How can Christians be pessimistic about the future when they serve the risen King whose kingdom has no end? Do so many fail to realize that our God reigns? Do so many fail to understand that God is sovereign over all things and that His redemptive work in the world is and will be carried to its full completion?
Thanks for that perspective Michael.
1. B. Minich said the following at 11:11 AM on Jun 30
I read that AP article. My theory is that someone's editor was missing, so he tried to get a really over the top story through the cracks. It was really quite hysterical, and even if things are as bad as all that, I wouldn't have hyperventilated in that fashion.
Christians should be the ultimate optimists. Things may go badly in this life, but we have much to look forward to in the life to come! However, I don't think pessimism is always out of place, as long as that greater hope permeates our beings. We can be realistic about conditions in this life without losing hope. In the end, if we are to be pessimistic, let us be like Puddleglum in the Silver Chair. He was always looking at the bad side of things, until at the end, he was faced with a hopeless looking situation, in which he showed confidence in the ultimate hope.
2. trying to stay balanced said the following at 11:40 AM on Jun 30
It seems if you go looking for the worst in life, you will find it. It has always been there but are we to focus on it?
I prefer to face the truth about life and at the same time try and see the good in my fellow human beings.
For example, after the wedding of Jenna Bush I began trying to see her father as a dad instead as a President. It really helps when you stop and take time to humanize those with whom you disagree.
Disclaimer: I am an independent/moderate politically, neither conservative nor liberal. Those labels are simply too limiting in this complex and fallen world.
This life often has its challenges but God is with us and all will be well.
Psalm 30:5 - For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
3. DannieA said the following at 12:37 PM on Jun 30
Do people really forget about histories lows?
wasn't it in the late 70s early 80s that there was a really bad oil crisis and that you had to ration gas?
didn't the housing market collapse about 10 years ago?
Life goes on in a cycle....and it will continue to go on like that til Christ comes.
Peace
4. Jacob said the following at 1:44 PM on Jun 30
That reminded me of a quote:
The conservative pessimist has in common with the liberal secularist an underestimation of God. The liberal secularist thinks of exalting man to despotic thrones higher than heaven itself, when he is actually dehumanizing man and lowering him into the most abject spiritual poverty. Yet the pessimist accepts the consequences of the liberal view as the inevitable outcome of history." - Hans Zeiger,Reagan's Children
5. Kate said the following at 2:22 PM on Jun 30
Sometimes I wonder what is always so surprising about all of this negative stuff. Nothing is new under the sun! It's all based on human selfishness, that of individuals and/or groups. Good thing that's not all we have to rely upon!
6. Mike Toreno said the following at 4:24 PM on Jun 30
I think one reason a lot of people are pessimistic is that they're losing their homes.
7. Tara said the following at 5:43 PM on Jun 30
RE: DannieA (comment #3)
Yes, there was a recession in the early 80s and it was actually a bit worse than now. My parents got married right at the beginning of it and they tell me that the interest on mortage rates were about the same as credit cards today (about 17 to 20% instead of the 8 to 10% it is at the moment). Yet somehow they pulled through.
The economy is being hit pretty hard and the headlines of lost jobs, oil prices breaking record highs AGAIN and the rise in poverty levels make me feel queasy. I just wish the media would print more articles with suggestions on how we can adapt to the shift in the economy. Like, how to be less greedy and live within our means...
Sometimes, with all the bad news in the media, I wonder if The End is near. I'm not a second-coming fanatic but sometimes the dour headlines remind me that we're all on borrowed time. I still have hope that the economy will pull through, or at least, steady itself and we'll adapt to the new norms but it is scary. Like my parents, I'm about to get married in the wake of a recession and with prices skyrocketing it's all rather intimidating. I'm so thankful for a God to cast my cares upon.
8. Carrie (the original) said the following at 9:42 AM on Jul 1
The mother of a friend of mine has this important advice to offer: "It'll all be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end."
9. Lauren T. said the following at 3:42 PM on Jul 5
I like your friend's mom, Carrie (#8).
Hate to just beat up on "the media" as a faceless entity, but I think the current fads in our general news reporting have a lot to do with the way people feel about current events. Hopeless, for the most part. Doesn't even matter what political philosophy a person has, if you are absorbing a lot of news reports you tend to get pretty gray in your outlook on life.
I can always tell friends and family members who are watching too much TV news or reading too many papers. They are terrified of everything that might be about to happen to them. One particularly sobering thing is how I have a very conservative and a very liberal friend who sound exactly alike when they're talking about all the disasters about to happen if their side doesn't "win" a point (whether it's the president's office or a court case or just a philisophical point in culture).
I will never call myself a moderate. I'm a conservative through and through. But I'll say it again: people from both philosophies seem to be undergoing a period of severe depression right now and I think it has little to do with actual events. It has everything to do with how we're choosing to see our time in history as "the worst things have ever been".
We can either feel hopeless about everything or recognize that every generation has it's particular challenges (even calling them "hardships" seems a little too melodramatic!) and every generation is going to continue until the end comes, at which point I don't think we'll care about gas prices at least!
Times have been way worse. Times have been better. That's the way it is. To faintly misquote Gandalf: all we can do is the best with the time that is given to us.
And by the way...not too many of us are really losing our houses. Not even in Michigan where our financial state's been pretty rotten for two or three years now. Most people you talk to will use the good old phrase: "Well, I'm doing okay but I'm worried about my neighbor."
10. Leah said the following at 10:01 PM on Jul 5
I reminded myself of that today. With housing prices and petrol prices going through the roof, more and more liberal policies taking over our court system, education system, etc etc, it's easy to think "wow, what are things going to be like when *I* buy a house, when *I* have kids??"
But then I realised that one day, true justice will be served... we just have to keep our eyes on that day :)
11. BDB said the following at 10:04 AM on Jul 6
DannieA (#3) wrote:
>>didn't the housing market collapse about 10 years ago? <<
In Southern California, yes. After Reagan left office and the Cold War ended, the cuts in defense spending put a lot of people out of work. That collapsed the SoCal housing market - kind of like how Detroit is suffering now with changes in the structure of the automotive industry.
Sometimes these things can be predicted. Years ago Boeing started focusing on their 787 Dreamliner, a super-fuel-efficient aircraft. Oil was at $20/barrel when they started. With oil at $145/barrel now, they look prophetic.