No. 867 MAKING SENSE OF THE NEWS!

No. 867

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

MAKING SENSE OF THE NEWS!

One of the greatest challenges I face each day, as I try to stay reasonably well informed is making sense of the news. “News,” according to the dictionary, is “New information about anything; information regarding unknown and recent happenings, especially those broadcast over the electronic and technical media, and those printed in newspapers.”
The battle here for me is that I see things happening more and more that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. I am appalled as I watch the local and national news each day and see the tragic events that are taking place that make it painfully obvious there is little or no love for others in our society. People who have love for their fellow human beings do not do the things to others that are now commonplace in the news every day.
As I have thought about this a great deal, I have come up with what I believe is a good part of the answer. First, the “news” can be broken down into three broad categories. First, there is reporting on natural disasters such as floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and wildfires started by lightning strikes. Then there is a great part of the news devoted to covering accidents of various kinds, and most of these can be attributed to human error. However, most of the news is made by one or more persons who made a conscious choice to steal, rob, rape, murder or cause mental or physical harm to other human beings. Of course, a good part of the news is also to report on those individuals who made good choices, resulting in receiving recognition or winning some contest or event.
Now back to my earlier comment about making sense of the news. While I may be considered old-fashioned, I believe the only way you can make sense of the news is to relate and compare what is happening today to the Word of God. In the book of Matthew 22:37- 40, a lawyer asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment. He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Jesus went on to say, “This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love thy neighbor as thyself.” What Jesus was actually doing was quoting two verses from the Old Testament -- Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 6:5 -- two verses that are part of Jewish Law written by Moses.
Now, it’s easy to see that the focus of both commandments is love. My friend, that is the key to understanding what is happening in the news today. When you have people with love for their fellow human beings in their heart, you will not have the total lack of respect and the kind of crude language, inhumane treatment, bloodshed and carnage that is reported in the news every single day. While it used to be that this was happening to someone else who lived somewhere else, it is now happening right here in our hometown, to us or someone we know. When I was growing up, we did not have the kind of things happening that have become commonplace, so much so that we have become desensitized.
Now, please understand. I did not say that I had the answer. But what I have just shared does help me understand more of what is happening in the news and the more understanding that God gives me, the more I may be able to help bring about change that will provide a better nation for our children and grandchildren. America is still the best place on earth but we must return to God and obey His laws if we want Him to bless us again. A good place to start is to call Sin what it is … Sin, and let the chips fall where they may.
---
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)