Introduction
Years ago The Saturday Evening Post ran a cartoon showing a man shipwrecked on a tiny, deserted island about to be rescued. The sailor in charge of the rescue team stepped onto the beach and handed the man a stack of newspapers, saying, “Compliments of the Captain. He would like you to glance at the headlines to see if you’d still like to be rescued!”
I think we all would be open to being shipwrecked on a deserted island and get away from the constant dine of the 24-Hour News cycle with its unrelenting cascade of constant chaos and destruction, of judgment and vitriol, leaving us all suffering from a hangover of information overload.
Many of us are old enough to remember when news outlets consisted of three TV channels, a daily newspaper, and the radio. Peter Jennings was my preferred news anchor, but many believe there was none better than Walter Cronkite with his signature sign-off: “And that’s the way it is.”
Back in the good ole days we had time to digest what was going on, time to process the news we heard and not get so overwhelmed by it. Today however, the 24-hour, multi-platform, social media-curated, constant cycle of news that confronts us, allows us no time to process and seems to just pile on with information that’s not only continuous, but controversial, conflicting, confusing, and stressful, often with no tangible way to respond other than through a 240 character social media rant.
Neil Postman, in his 1985 book “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business”, called this the “loop of impotence,” saying, “The news elicits from you a variety of opinions about which you can do nothing except to offer them as more news, about which you can do nothing.”
Postman, writing in the days before the internet, was already pointing to the problem of “news fatigue” or a general malaise that leaves us feeling depressed, powerless, and distrustful of news sources that are often superficial, sensationalist, inaccurate, or hopelessly biased. The result is the more news we consume the more anxiety we feel or (and maybe worse) the more desensitized we become to the news itself.
One solution to that anxiety is to simply turn off the news, but the “ignorance is bliss” approach to life is never as good as we think. Another solution might be to only focus on the good news, as people like actor John Krasinski tried to help us do early in the pandemic through his “Some Good News” videos. But neither ignorance nor selectivity would seem to be the answer in a world eager for the kind of news people can actually act upon.
What we need instead is a perspective and mindset that puts the current news within the context of an eternal perspective. The bad and good news happening now has happened before and will happen again. So rather than fret or provoke yet another opinion about it all, the prophet Isaiah calls us to remember the only news that really matters is that the God who created the world in which all this news happens is still at work and will ultimately set everything right.
And knowing this, and hearing this, will change everything for the better.
Move 1
It’s timely how the lectionary texts in this pandemic era continue to include the prophets of God speaking to God’s people in a time of exile. Isaiah wrote to a people confronted with the reality of exile — people isolated and distanced far from home in circumstances they did not choose.
In Isaiah 40:1-11, God announces through the prophet that a return from exile is on the horizon— a new exodus in which God’s people would be set free and restored. God would dwell with them and God would feed them and protect them as a shepherd feeds and protects his flock. This is the news God’s people needed to hear, and it’s the news that puts all other news into perspective.
While we worry over news about the forces of nature threatening to overwhelm us, God reminds us that God is the Creator who “has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand” (v. 12) While the daily news focuses on the calamity between nations, Isaiah reminds God’s people that, to God, “the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are accounted as dust on the scales.” Meaning God’s greatness is unimaginably vast and these nations are but dust to God because they do not have God’s infinite perspective. Add in, nothing is a threat to God, and the forces in opposition to God and God’s ways ultimately amount to nothing.
These truths can inspire in us confidence and trust and faith that no matter what, this will change everything for the better.
Move 2
Now as is often the case, this is all easier said than done. So how do we cultivate this perspective and mindset?
It is an imperative to remember that while the news needs us to be constantly concerned about our material safety and wealth in order to be successful in its ratings and revenue, God reminds God’s people that the natural and human-caused calamities that dominate the news cycle are not news to God. God puts them all into perspective by taking the long view. Those rulers and newsmakers who crowd our screens today are “as nothing” to God, who sees them like withered plants that are here today and gone tomorrow (vv. 23-24). No one who makes the news will ever be God’s equal; God is the one who creates them all (vv. 25-26).
These are powerful reminders for the people of God who, like Israel, often got caught up in the news of the day and began to despair or, worse, began to be sucked into the world’s idolatry, fear and intrigue. The subsequent news fatigue made them believe their plight was “hidden from the Lord” and that they had been “disregarded” by God (v. 27). But that’s when Isaiah comes through shouting once again with the news that should dominate the attention of all God’s people regardless of their circumstances. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” (v. 28)
This is a repeat of verse 12 by Isaiah, which is a way of bringing home the point that the God who created the “ends of the earth” allows nothing to escape God’s notice and will allow nothing to defeat God’s purposes for creation. No matter how bad the news seems to be, God’s purposes will win out. That’s the reason God does not suffer from “news fatigue.” As Isaiah puts it, “God does not faint or grow weary; God’s understanding is unsearchable. God gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless.” (vv. 28-29) Not only does God know the long view, God offers power and strength to those who feel the fatigue of bad news in the present.
Move 3
Human beings tend to busy themselves trying to either come up with solutions to every problem or offering their opinions to those who “should” be doing something to fix them. But as the pandemic has taught us, there are limits to human knowledge and ability. If we trust only in ourselves, we are bound to experience the fatigue of despair when we fail or reach the end of our ability. The energy and idealism of youth can lead to disappointment and exhaustion when the reality sets in that we cannot “fix” the news no matter how hard we try.
So rather than fret, fixate, or forego the news, Isaiah invites us to deal with our fatigue in light of the larger reality God has once again declared to God’s people. Instead of “waiting” on the news by constantly refreshing our screens or scrolling through a social media feed, Isaiah instead invites us to “wait for the Lord.” (v. 31) But this “waiting” doesn’t mean we simply sit around and do nothing, allowing the news to continue to bombard and overwhelm us.
To “wait” means to look to God to provide us with perspective, hope, and purpose—all of which comes through prayer and through being immersed in God’s Word. This is knowing. This is hearing. And it changes everything for the better.
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Many of our phones and devices now tell us precisely how much time we spend online every day. What if we spent half as much time, or an equivalent amount of time, or more time knowing and hearing God, and bringing our fatigue and worries to God? How much might our “news fatigue” be mitigated if we committed to knowing and hearing God as much as we know and hear what has been posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tik-Tok?
We are bombarded and overwhelmed with news and information—much of it toxic to our spirits. But we have a choice, we have the power to decide, how much we take in and with what perspective and mindset we will process it from.
When we know and hear God and God’s perspective, we have the opportunity to put those things in perspective while renewing our strength to deal with the things we can actually do something about.
Conclusion
Countering the news with a daily discipline of time spent in the presence of God will enable us to take up a different pace of life.
So know that if we grab our phones first thing in the morning to check the news— that’s a recipe for starting the day with anxiety, rather than mounting up for the day “with wings like eagles.” If we watch our preferred news channel morning, noon, and night— that’s a recipe for growing weary and fainting under the weight of bad and damning news.
So let us make the faithful choice of knowing and hearing—daily—that the din of chaos and destruction, of judgment and vitriol will never prevail over our God, but rather God and God’s ways will always prevail. Knowing this…hearing this… each day will make each day infinitely better. And that’s the way it is. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, February 7, 2021
Holy God, it seems every day it is something new—but yet, the very same thing— more bad news. Somewhere different in the world, with different players and circumstance, but just more of the same. And what else should we expect from an industry driven by ratings and dollars—driven by the mantra “if it bleeds, it leads.”
This is to say nothing about social media, where all we want is to connect with family and friends both near and far, but it too turns into a factory of sadness that floods our spirits with that which never feeds our souls.
This, and more, is why we must learn to wait, to watch, to long for you O God, for it is you who renews our powers, refreshes our spirits, restores our well-being; you give strength to the faint and power to the powerless. And so we pray…
May your church be found working among those who lack resources or rights. May we seek to care for those who cannot care for themselves. We pray for the lowly and the humiliated. Be to them all a tower of strength.
We pray for the great powers of the world, the strong nations, and mighty governments. May their power be used properly that the poor are protected, the weak are not exploited, and no one is oppressed.
We pray for multinational corporations who often wield more power than many governments, that in their relentless pursuit of profit they may take steps of compassion and concern which will benefit them as well as those powerless to stop them.
We pray for our friends and families, especially any who are finding life difficult at the moment. We pray for any in our community that may feel neglected or rejected. We pray for those who are tired and broken. By your blessing, may they mount up with wings like eagles.
We give thanks that Christ is our healer and our companion who will not allow us to be lost forever. By knowing him and hearing him, may we be conduits of the promise that you are at work, and your work is always for good.
Please hear now the prayers of our hearts as we share them in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who taught us to pray, saying, “Our…”