"New" News

“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:18-19

It was just the other day in the car when one of our children asked, “Why do they call it the news?” Well . . .because it’s about things that are new. That was our answer. It made sense, but then I started to think that this isn’t necessarily true much of the time. In this day and age of 24 hour news coverage—both on the television and on the internet—there is always something that could be considered “new”. But there is a whole lot of time to fill with news that is essentially old. And when news gets to be old, those who report and essentially “sell” their stories to the highest bidders and advertisers need to make the old new again. So, they speculate, they project, they infer and do whatever it takes to sell the story—even if it’s old news. They bring on experts to get their perspectives, their opinions, and their expertise. And if I were them, I guess I could see the need to do the same thing. But behind much of what we receive, there are people making decisions as to what is going to be news and what is not. So, rather than hear about a broad range of information that is actually new, we may have to hear the re- hashing of news that is no longer such.

The importance of news, I believe, is so that we might know how to direct our prayers most of all. If we are not engaged in the world community through prayer, then we are simply consumers of information, and this is not our pur- pose. If we don’t take what we are offered, think critically about it, and pray about what we have come to know, then about the relationship we have with others, it is only a one way aspect of consumption. Those who sell the information are counting on this, because they know that we have an insatiable appetite for more. It assures their business and their bottom line. To some extent, this is what they do and this is how we generally respond. But we must know when to question the information, when to pray for the most important things—and especially when to turn it off. If we continue to feed off of so many things that really lack substance, we will cheap- en our relationships with others.

This is a real challenge when everything around us tells us to buy more, spend more, and feed our needs. Figuring out exactly what those needs are may be the best place to start. I’m hearing breaking news today about the closely followed story of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. They have concluded that it did indeed crash in the southern Indian Ocean. And while this is a new certainty, it is hardly news. There is still so much to learn. Yet we have been glued to the story because of its mystery and intrigue. My prayers are for the families and communities involved and affected, even as we continue to live in the dark about exactly what happened and how we may avoid such tragedy in the future. In the meantime, we speculate even more, and we feed off of the possibilities of the unknown details.
May we be strengthened in this season of examination and reflection, to place the most importance on our lives of faith. For this is where we grow closer to God and to one anoth- er and because of this relationship we have come to know as very real and very much new each and every day. Peace be with each of you.