Twenty years ago, my (ex)wife, Gail and I used to watch the 10pm “news” broadcast with Paul Majors almost every night before bed – we did this for the eleven years we were together.
A bit more than ten years ago, I stopped reading the morning “news” paper that I used to read religiously every morning – had been doing that for probably twenty or twenty five years.
Ten years ago, I started getting my “news” while on the PC at work, with Google news, etc. Since my chosen profession requires me to sit at a desk (in front of a PC) during most (if not all) of my work day, I was able to get my “news” fix all day long.
Five years ago, with the invention of the iPad, I now don’t even have to be in front of a PC at work, to hear what was going on in this world of ours. I could see and hear the news, wherever I went, at any time – whether it was 8am, 8pm or even at 3 in the morning in bed, when I couldn’t sleep.
Even when I’m ignoring Google News, I am now getting “news” from FaceBook – a place that used to be where people used to just say “hello, how are ya?” to each other, after not seeing them in ten, twenty, thirty years, and sharing innocent pictures of ourselves.
Twice now (in as many days), I’ve gone to bed, not looking at the latest “news” cycle, and have then awoken to sad “news”.
Over the past few years, I’ve “awoken” to “news” about sad incidents such as Boston, San Bernardino, Paris, Orlando, Falcon Height (MPLS), and this morning, Dallas. And, these are just the ones that immediately come to mind – there are so many other killings, murders, rapes, etc., not only here in the U.S., but, also, elsewhere in this world.
I, for one, am tired of reading this type of “news” every day. It drags me down. I don’t need to be dragged down further than I already am.
So, a part of me, just wants to shut everything out, to crawl back under those nice soft bedcovers from where I came – before opening FaceBook, before reading the latest “news” feed.
A part of me wants to shut this thing off, and say, to hell with it all.
But, I know this isn’t very realistic.
I know that this is life, and while it might seem hopeless at this point in time – I know a couple of things:
First, the world has always been this way – there have always been bad people, evil people, people who do bad things, such as kill, murder, beat, rape, and every other terrible thing we hear about. Evil has been around for hundreds of years.
It sometimes seems as if evil is taking over the world.
However, in my humble opinion, I think that it’s just we are now hearing more about it than we used to, due to the increasing use of technology, with having “news” come at us from all directions, instead of just a daily newspaper, radio newscast, or a nightly tv newscast.
Second, Good has always overcome and triumphed over evil.
We are not an evil society.
We are nowhere near that.
The majority of the world is good.
The majority of the world is kind, and loving.
The majority of the world doesn’t want war, doesn’t murder, doesn’t kill, doesn’t beat on each other, doesn’t rape.
Although it seems like evil is sometimes winning, it’s not.
Truly.
The number of evil people is such a tiny, tiny fraction of the total number of people in this world.
But, with that said, it is still up to us – the people with good in their hearts, the people with love in their hearts, the people who know right from wrong, it is up to us, not to put our heads under the covers, it is up to us, to teach the evil ones, the bad ones – that violence isn’t the answer, that hatred isn’t the answer, that killing people won’t ever solve anything.
It is up to us, to teach our children, our friends, our co-workers, to teach every one of us to love one another, to accept each other, to ignore or walk away when we feel disrespected, or are angry because of something someone said or did, or because we don’t like their color, their gender, their sexuality, their religion, or because they are in law enforcement.
Yes, I am sad, this morning.
But, I know, in my heart, Good, will continue to triumph over evil.
But, it cannot happen alone, it cannot happen without you.
Each one of us is responsible for doing whatever we can, to ensure our children and grandchildren do not grow up to be violent, to ensure they do not grow up to be haters, or bullies. It is our responsibility to show them that the use of guns or violence isn’t the way to settle an argument, a disagreement, or because they just don’t “like” cops.
Each one of you – those that are reading this today, as well as all of my other friends – each one of you – I’m thinking about you, today. You are in my thoughts. I care for you, I care about you, I love you. I know this world may sometimes get us down, but just know, there is someone who is thinking about you, and wants all of us to love each other, as much as we can.
Especially now.
Especially today.
