The Spectrum of Life Ruth Smith Meyer

Life presents us with a whole gamut of experiences. 2013 has certainly already imparted much thus far—both elating and distressing, personal and world-wide.

Just in the last few months the distressing has almost seemed over-powering.  On a larger scale: the Boston bombing incident, the Bangladesh factory collapse, the news of the three Cleveland women held in captivity for ten years, the New Orleans Mother’s Day shootings, the killing of Tim Bosma, a young innocent, husband and father.  There have been recent stories of political people who seemed to be reliable seriously violating that trust, costly actions taken at the expense of taxpayers only for political gain. In our personal lives, we’ve experienced the ups and downs of a cancer journey and physical ills.  This line of thought could be further expanded with more incidents.  One could think if there wasn’t bad news there would be no news at all. Life could get discouraging.

Then quietly, we become aware of the other end of the spectrum.  Spring arrives, slowly, but surely.  New growth appears.  The buds on trees burst into leaves, bedecking the branches in a myriad colours of green.  Shoots emerge through bare ground, unfurling into innumerable variety of plants and blossoming into countless varieties of flowers.  Shrubs and flowering trees in succession explode into beauteous array and rapturous aroma. Our hope and belief in a living God are renewed.  

We begin to take note of other hopeful things happening around us: new babies arrive with the smell of heaven and the aura of innocence; men and women finding each other and happily wed themselves to each other with the promise adventure and growth of love and fulfillment; people giving of themselves to help someone in need; those who didn’t think of their own safety, but raced to help those hurt in the bombings; people helping for days, to dig through the rubble to find those still living, the public honouring the need of privacy for the women who had been held in captivity; virtual strangers organizing a ride to raise funds for the grieving Bosma family; a young child writing a book to raise funds for a friend with a life-threatening disease and far exceeding his expectations and those of his parents; a politician going above and beyond the call of duty; a teacher applauding a child who has made great strides in his school year.

New babies arrive with the smell of heaven and the aura of innocence.  Men and women find each other and happily wed with the promise of adventure and growth of love and fulfillment. 

Yes, life presents both good and bad. We can become bogged down if we concentrate on the bad, if we only bemoan the chaos and sin in our world.  But if we look, we can find ways to turn those very things into opportunities for growth, for compassion, for ingenuous ways of showing ours and God’s love and care.  Yes, there will be scars left from many of those tragedies, there will be chasms of emptiness that seem too big to ever be filled, but one step, one act of kindness, one touch of understanding at a time and something new can rise from calamity.  It’s up to you and to me.

 

Changing Times - Harris

I can barely watch the news these days. That would surprise people who knew me as a teenager. Back then, I absorbed everything I could about Canadian politics and government. I scoured the papers for in-depth reports of world events.

But these days, I often find myself reaching for the 'off' button when pundits start talking. I can't get through any of our three national newscasts on most nights. I find them jaded, narrow and without vision. I’m just not interested in the Bay Street, boring stories they are reporting on. I also get the impression the pundits hope Canada has a bad future.

Have I changed? Probably. Or has the media become more negative and out of touch? I think it has.

It appears that mainstream media no longer captures the interests of large segments of our population, especially youth and women. Advertising executives have told me that clients who want to target female buyers often don’t place ads in daily newspapers. Apparently, few women read these rags anymore. Many youth have also turned to alternatives sources of news – such as the Internet.

What is it about the major mainstream newspapers and newscasts that apparently turns off large demographic groups in our society? I can't say for sure. But here's an idea:

It may be that our nation is looking for salt, light, vision, grace and hope.

Who is better equipped than us, Christians working in the media, to provide Canadians with articles and books that do inspire them, even when other media sources don't? Maybe no one.

One thing is certain: If our audiences are not inspired, they will leave. In fact, I think I hear them already moving in the distance. But they are still near enough to hear us calling.

Now the hard questions: How do we write a news story that does that? What news stories do we cover? What stories are the major newspapers and newscasts missing that we can pitch to them? My guess is that there is a lot to write about. And that we can find it.

Better get our ears to the ground.

Jane Harris Zsovan

Jane Harris Zsovan writes in both mainstream in Canadian publications about faith, business, arts, and contemporary Canada. She is the author of Stars Appearing: The Galts' Vision of Canada. She contributed "Jessie's Generation: Canada's Firebrands of Mercy and Justice" to Hot Apple Cider: Stories to Warm the Heart and Stir the Soul. Jane writes Vision of Canada Blog, on contemporary and historical Canada.