Still so much good

Bad news is tough to escape. I don’t know how you feel, but the news exhausts me. I never watch it on television or read the newspapers’ front pages. I choose not to let it invade my consciousness. It tries to enter from all directions: email, television, newspapers, radio, social media, Internet and postal. Thank God for the remote’s power button, the computer’s delete key and recycle bins.  

Why would I choose to watch evil people wreaking havoc on each other and our communities or listen to appalling facts about world situations I cannot fix? “To stay informed?” If some major piece of news hits, it will find its way in. Reading or watching unpleasant news, for me, is literally too much to handle emotionally and spiritually. (God must have blessed me with too much empathy. Is that a thing?) 

News, news, NEWS! It isn’t news at all that the media tends to lead with negative news. Why does it trump the positive feel-good stories? Are we that morbid of a human race that we want to read and hear the gruesome details that come along with the bad stories? No thanks.  

I allow in one quick-read and simple news source via email which highlights the world’s main issues. Guess where the two most positive stories are placed daily? At the bottom just before a few ads. It reports fantastically kind acts people are doing and creating to help the world. Why aren’t the feel-good pieces published first? One blurb taught us about a group of dads who organize free workouts for kids; they call themselves Barbecue Chicken University. Isn’t that marvelous? Their goal is “to pump up the leaders of tomorrow mentally, physically, and emotionally.” Way to go, BBQ Dads! Another story told us about an organization that helps refugees by distributing clothes, tents and bedding to people sleeping outdoors. Those are good news stories. Now that type of information I enjoy reading. Many positive stories are here on the pages of the Catholic Review, too. 

We know there are heaps of evil on our planet (one bad apple – what’s the cliché?) And yet I would like to remind us … the world is also comprised of SO MUCH GOOD. 

In the midst of the bad press about police officers, there are still good cops. There are still good neighbors even though that one wacky person in the news story fell off the deep end. There are still good neighborhoods and good politicians. Our communities still have good families. There are still good priests. That’s what our priest once told us when the clergy abuse scandal erupted – it has stuck with me through the years because it is correct, and that point can be applied to any category of people and professions. There are still excellent teachers, loving caregivers, talented doctors, peaceful protesters and decent people. 

There are still good husbands and good wives. If a married couple is currently in a “bad place,” do they merely give up and get out? Some do, some do not … why? Because they realize there is still so much good left in their relationship. 

Our planet is comprised of good and evil, light and dark, happy and sad, devil and God, yin and yang, positive and negative, awareness and ignorance, decaf and regular. We wish some apples in the basket did not have worms and rotten pieces to spoil things for the good apples – the good people on the good side of life – but speaking of apples, go discuss the matter with Adam and Eve. 

Still so much good around us. As we are bombarded with the unwelcome news, let’s not inhale and hold in its negativity. Change the channel. Turn off the radio. Read the lighter newspaper sections and use the front pages under your steamed crabs. Let’s shift our eyes and ears and hearts to the good news: God’s parishes, people and children creating change; financial donors helping charitable causes; individuals sharing their clothing and food; and kind selfless volunteers offering their time, talents, and hearts.

Still so much good. Let it in.  

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