Drop the remote and step away from the Internet!

So, does everyone agree we’re living on shaky ground?  And we pretty much have been since the beginning of time, have we not?  Question is: what sort of fault line are you straddling at this very moment?  Uncertain medical tests, a job lay-off, a prowling virus that gives no warning before attack, or perhaps whether or not to purchase a Geiger counter; the list never really ends, does it?  But, let’s not forget that the list of good and right things that are happening in the world never ends either!  So, I’m posing the following question today to all ten of my readers…Are any of us helping anybody else by scouring the Internet for the next sensational video of the tsunami in Japan, or by setting the DVR to record every episode of Fox News?  Really.  Do we subconsciously think that enlightening ourselves by witnessing horror upon horror from every camera angle counts for something? The evening news would have you believe that information is power, but the incessant gathering of it can just as easily become an escape from ever really helping those who could care less which news agencies have the best footage of loved ones being washed away.

It’s an every-day struggle to step away from the television or the computer and choose instead to seek out more productive ways to spend our time.  It’s a battle, but one worth fighting and winning, my friends. Because the church down the street still needs items for its food pantry.  Quilts still need to be crafted for the orphans in Africa.  The Little League coaches are delighted to have an extra pair of hands to shag balls, and The Landing could probably use some adult tutors or cookie bakers to help with all the teens dropping in for respite each day from a tight-fisted world that would prefer to devour their young souls...one Charlie Sheen episode at a time.  And for these seemingly mundane acts of kindness to carry on in the midst of chaos on the other side of the ocean is a good thing for humanity - demonstrating trust and belief, which are precursors to joy.

My thoughts are not an attempt to down play the seriousness of world events that are tragic to be sure; but let’s be honest, the only thing that wringing our hands with worry does is delude the body into thinking it’s taking some sort of action.  And where’s the power in that?  Fear, at its core, is an ingrate whose only goal is self-preservation and comfort – which happen to be the very opposite of faith.

So, while the mountains will always shake before the One who created them, and no amount of rebar or technology will God-proof our magnificent globe, you and I can exercise our free will by tossing aside the remote on our way out the door to find a paving crew that’s already hard at work laying down their lives one simple act of kindness at a time.