Topic #1

Ugh.  I had all these nice thoughts written down, and I copied them from one place to another and NOW THEY ARE GONE.  So I get to start from scratch.  

This post actually is going to be my musings on some topics that have bothered me lately.  

Topic #1:  I am continually frustrated with the media.  I may receive criticism from people (my high school AP government teacher for one...) for the following statement:  I have little interest in news.  I am content in knowing whatever information happens across my path, but I generally do not seek it out.  I have enough other things on my mind...my own personal battle fields...to take on the problems of the world.  When I worked at the Adult Group Home, they had the morning news on, the afternoon news and the evening news...so no matter what time of day I worked, I generally got the news.  I'll admit that it was interesting.  But you know why?  Because it was sensationalized.  and almost everything was negative.  After a while, I wanted to throw a pillow at the TV and shout, "WHY ARE YOU POINTING OUT ALL THE BAD STUFF!!"  

I am about to make another statement...you may or may not agree with it.  I guess I really don't care, since it is still in the early stages of "theory."   

 I think that the more negative things are focused on in the news, the more it will encourage negative things to happen.  

Now before you jump into your arguments for why I'm wrong...hear me out.  We're gonna dig a little deeper here.  With all the technology today, I would argue that some kids are lacking integral human attention.  When a kid gets fussy, mom puts him in front of the TV instead of giving him one-on-one attention, this is where the cycle begins.  (I can already see some of my mother-friends' feathers ruffling.  Take a deep breath. I'm not saying that it is always wrong to distract or entertain your kids with technology...just follow my train of thought and take what I say with a grain of salt, okay?)  

So lets say that the more often technology distracts, the easier it becomes to make that the go-to instead of attention.  And sadly, I think this is how a lot of people live.  They work too many jobs just to make ends meet.  They have little to no time.  They are a single parent for one reason or another.  And it leaves kids fending for themselves.  I would even go so far as to say, in some cases, it can leave kids feeling lonely and desperate for attention.  

This is why we have young girls going out and getting involved with a guy and getting pregnant. 

This is why we have kids joining gangs. 

This is why we have mass murderers setting off bombs, shooting up schools and any number of other things.

These kids grow up...generally in the shadows.  Never popping up on anyone's radar.  Not really special to anyone...even their families.  And they see the news.  They know that if you go into a school with a gun and shoot it up, then people pay attention to you.  All across the state.  All across the country.  Your name goes down in history, along with Benedict Arnold, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, Adolf Eichmann.  Forget that they are infamous for doing some pretty underhanded things (to say the very least).  

They are remembered.   

And when they do those things , the media jumps on it.  It is front page news.  Airing on all the TV and radio stations.  We follow the stories to get every last gory detail.  We are a sensational people.  And the media just feeds us what we want.  Forget that these are real people who are suffering...who lost kids...who aren't sure how they will wake up tomorrow and keep on living.  Forget that the perpetrators were someone's kid, went to school, ate, slept, watched TV and were afraid of the dark like "normal."   

Oh wait.  We are interested in these things. We want to know what the parents did wrong.  We want to know how someone could have a completely "normal" childhood and end up so twisted.  We wait for that one story where the mom was interviewed to see if she "saw it coming."  We read interviews with classmates who say, "He was just a normal guy.  Kind of quiet, had a good sense of humor and was a great student."  Then we begin scrutinizing the normal people around us, wondering if any one of them is going to snap and plant a bomb in the office building where we work.  

What is wrong with us?  And I say "us" because I am a part of it.  I get caught up in the wave of it all.  And probably even more so, because I am fascinated by crime and the criminal mind.  I know that is no excuse.  

Back in the old days when it took the Pony Express weeks and months to deliver news, it was pretty straight forward and ultimately far removed from the general public's lives.   Now these bits of tragic news are at our finger tips, in our living rooms and blasting through our radios. 

*sigh*

So remember this is just a theory.  And I am semi-venting.

Mainly because I think that if the news focused on all the good that was going on, it might be emulated more, eh?  I mean if I were a kid who was starving for attention and I saw that people who volunteered at soup kitchens or went out of their way to assist those in need got "sensationalized" on the news, I'd go that route.  Shooting up schools wouldn't even enter my mind as a way to get attention. 

Maybe if there were other problems with me. 

But as a way to get attention?  Nope.  because in my new utopia, the perp would be briefly mentioned (if at all), the focus would be on the victims and their memory, stories about who they were as people, loved ones, family etc...

I don't know.  It's not perfectly figured out. 

But until someone else smarter and more of a mover/shaker than I am figures it out...I'll go back to being present in the brokenness that surrounds me right here in my own neighborhood with people I am invested in.  This is where I'll put my energy. 

The world may never know my name. 

I may never be written about in history books.  

But...

 I am my husband's wife...he adores me. 

I am my client's VIP...he likes it when I cook Alfredo noodles.

I am my parent's daughter...they are proud of the woman I am.

I am a daughter-in-law...I think they like that I married their son.

I am a sister...#1 target for teasing and brotherly love.

I am a Sunday school teacher...they like the prizes I give them.

 oh yeah, and I teach them about Jesus. 

I am Auntie...'nough said.

I am Daughter of the King...name written in the Book of Life. 

And trust me, I'd rather have my name there than any old history book that some kid just reads and throws away after school.

And to the best of my ability...with the help of the Lord, I will fiercely love the children in my sphere of influence so that they will have just one more person in their corner...and hopefully grow up to be men and women who fight back against the darkness and continue the cycle of love and affirmation to those around them. 

Even so, Lord Jesus...come soon. 

p.s. looks like I just got to one topic today.  I'll get to the rest later...trust me...there's more =)