i know i should stop watching it, but i don't want to become ignorant and not know what is going on in the world.
my dear friend alissa posted a link to this article this on her facebook page and I just love it. I feel like it was written for me :)
he talks about how instead of turning on the news one night after an especially busy day, he flipped open the good ole bible to Ecclesiastes.
the rest is straight from the article:
"behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in the toil which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God." Ecc. 5:18-19
I would summarize this guy's advice this way:
live a healthy joy filled life, because the best thing you can offer this broken, beautiful weary world, isn't a life of fervency that borders on burnout, or a life of ambitious efforts to save the world, where your zeal leads only to the despair of 'more to do.' The first and best thing you can offer this world is a life well lived. Start there."
That's why I have basically (thought not absolutely literally) stopped watching the TV news. Don't worry, I'll still read about the news. I'll still hear about Syria, gun control and the new pope. All the TV news does is tell me that I can't do anything about any of what I'm watching.
What can I do at the end of a full day?
I can converse with my wife, cook healthy life giving food, eat it with gratitude, write, go for a walk, invite my son over for dinner, call my daughter, write an encouraging word for someone, pray etc.
All these things are life giving. The message of Ecclesiastes, in part at least, is that whether I watch the news or not Syria's still going to happen. The world is thus, and the more time and energy I spend worrying about things I can't control, the less energy I actually have to life as a blessing, right here, right now, in the midst of all that is my actual life.
It's the preachers belief that this mindset and perspective, far from leading to disengagement, so fills us with life that we find ourselves overflowing with the capacity to bless others. That's why Ecclesiastes also says:
"cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. GIve a portion to 7 or even to 8 , for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. "
I interpret this as:
" live generously. you're blessed? Actively bless others...maybe even 7 or 8. "
This of course, is going on all the time. This very day, there are people volunteering their time in scouts, AA, ski clubs, support groups, community meals, homeless shelters. There are people gathering to eat good food and tell stories, laugh and cry together. There are people making music and making movies and teaching children.
My suspicion, though I'll never know this for fact, is that most of the people doing creative, awesome, life-imparting stuff aren't also sitting on their buts watching TV news at the end of the day, getting depressed about drone strikes and national debt. Instead, they are casting their strenghts and life giving resources (their bread) on the waters of their real world, just because its better to give than hide your stuff under your pollow in a news-induced paralyzing fear.
I like that kind of joyful generosity and creativity. I've known that before, and its awaking in me again. It all started when I turned off the news and read Ecclesiastes. "
oh my goodness. perhaps a little extreme at times, but man what a beautiful writer Richard Dahlstrom.
and what a good thing to examine. what activities could I be adding to my day to day life that are a little more "life giving?"
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