We (Sarah and I) have felt a strong desire to help you all and care for you through the current events we are all experiencing these days.
Some of this is caution, and some of this is meant to be helpful in how to navigate and provide some self-care when bombarded by the fire hose of difficult & alarming news that is coming our way daily.
Primarily, we want to caution you about the amount of time you spend listening and reading about world news each day. This is costing you more than you know, and “knowing stuff” isn’t really what we’re called to. The anxiety that this cycle of news creates, and the energy you burn on worrying about what is to come, is problematic for our bodies, to our hearts, and to how we are able to engage in our day to day.
We can imagine that knowing the new horror of this day somehow keeps us informed, and may help us prepare for some eventuality, but what it’s really doing is overloading our nervous systems.
From an article by Alix Klingenberg, “There’s a relentless, gnawing panic, an alarm that won’t stop ringing. Even a glimpse at the news floods my body with fear, grief, and overwhelm.” Can you relate?
So why do we scroll, why do follow the news, why are we so invested in it? And why do we share alarming things with others? What is this feeding? Is it our feeling of rightness? Or our outrage? Because righteousness and outrage are not healthy forms of engagement. Outrage blinds us to seeing the other and empowers us to dehumanize anyone we don’t agree with.
So again, we want to encourage you all to be very aware of how much time you spend consuming our world’s news each day. Limiting this input is not burying your head in the sand! It is giving you space to be present to what is happening around you and allowing you to engage in meaningful ways with people and things that you can do something about, in the moment.
Let me give you a couple of examples. I (Eden) spent this last week in Toronto helping out our kids. They live right downtown, and it’s a jungle! I took our grandson to daycare each morning and picked him up each afternoon. That required walking at least 3 kilometers in the thick of things each day.
I determined that I would be present to our grandson, and to the people I was seeing along the way. That meant eyes up and ready to meet the gaze of another if they could manage that. Each day, as I passed many of the same people, I began to see a change. It went from them nervously looking away from my clear eyes and smile, to responding with a smile back. More than anything I wanted people to know that “I saw them!” I even had a few people give me a nod. That gave me a dopamine rush that had me smiling for blocks.
One afternoon as I was leaving the daycare with Felix, a man on a bike, who looked like he lived rough, came cycling around the corner and saw me pushing Felix in the stroller. And he cycled close by and looking at me shouted, “Yeah for Grammy!” To which I responded, “Wahoo!”
Another day I was carrying groceries back to the apartment and my eyes were focused on my next step. I looked up to see an elderly woman looking right at me and she gave me a smile. Then she asked me, “How far are you going?” I said, and she offered immediately to put the groceries in her wagon and walk the 5 blocks out of her way with me. I declined, but the groceries actually felt lighter as I walked the rest of the way.
Another encounter I had was watching an elderly woman get out of an idling car to make her way into a bank. I could see how afraid she was of slipping on the ice and snow. So, I stopped, and while standing on solid sidewalk I offered my arm to her to steady her steps. She was so grateful for the arm, and her husband waved his appreciation from the car, and she stepped over the ice and onto solid ground without harm.
I also witnessed a racist comment being made on my flight. I watched and noticed how it had affected the person it was targeted against. I considered what I might be able to do, not in reaction, but with some thought. I was able to let the targeted person know that I heard it too, and that if they wanted to complain or report it, I would give them my contact info and be their witness.
So . . . my encouragement for you today is to spend less time scrolling and watching the news. And more time, looking up, noticing those around you, and engaging with what is presently happening. This is the way we prepare for any other eventuality. Seeing the other and being prepared to engage.
And when you hear and see the troubles of our days, instead of trying to hold the worries of the day in your own hands, bring that event, those people, that leader, that nation, to the Mercy Seat where Jesus will hold them and care for them.
The opposite of despair is not hope, it’s curiosity. Curiosity to look around and ask, what can I do? What do I see? How can I respond? Why is this happening? Where is my place in this? Who might be on my path today?
So, to help activate this for you this morning, can we just close our eyes, and consider what worries we might be holding onto with our paralyzed hands?
Lord knows you have each carried these worries far enough, let’s invite Jesus to come to us and show us what he would like to do with these worries? Let Jesus do the heavy lifting, and we just watch what he does.
Let's pray
Jesus, Merciful One, Friend of Sinners. Have mercy on us as we have taken on the troubles of this world as if we had power to do anything. Show us where we can be light in each day. Create curiosity in us that will keep our eyes focused around us, instead of on the despair we feel as witnesses to a crime. Carry these burdens for us and help us to see you in the eyes of ALL. Amen