Shining City Upon a Hill iii

Since a young age, I've always been fascinated by "the news". It was always on television at home. In the morning, the Today show was always a part of the morning rush; in the evenings, up until his retirement recently, Tom Brokaw brought us the day's events, and now Brian Williams fills the role. In high school I spent many afternoons and evenings at the local news station learning what it was like to "bring the news to people". I even tried my hand at creating a news show in high school and again in college, both very exciting things. In high school, I edited the school paper for two years, and before that, wrote columns in a local paper.

It was all news. Fast-paced at times, but very enjoyable.

Now I diversify a bit from the past and watch some CNN or Fox News, and even sometimes get my news from the internet. Something about it all amazes me, though. It came very clearly as I watched the news the other day: the sadness amazes me.

The first order of business? If any casualties have been recorded in Iraq during the day, it is the first thing to be mentioned. Then, especially with the local news, any reports of the day's criminal activities is passed along to the viewer. Then there's the update on a handful of court cases (criminal or otherwise) that the television network has chosen to spotlight amidst the thousands. We're then given updates on different groups of maybe ten or twenty people who think they have the answer to our country's problems, then we're told of some recent discovery that the federal government is spending our hard-earned tax dollars on some huge project benefiting thirteen people in a rural area we've never heard of... usually deemed "the fleecing of America". Business news is next... a few numbers we become obsessed with (it's scary to think that the activity of thirty stocks can determine the attitude of a person... much less millions of people around the world).

There's a good part and a bad part to all of this. The bad part? Watching the news, with the exception of the excitement of the shuttle launch and return recently, tends to depress me more than any other single part of my day. The good part? Fortunately, I see a lot of good that happens in the world every day, at least enough to know that the news doesn't really cover alot of the "good stuff" that's happening out there in the world.

We, the Americans, are bringing hope to a country previously run by tyranny. The vast majority (a proven and undisputed thing) of them thank us for trying to help them. Americans sent more money than internationally-recognized analysts said could actually be used to help tsunami victims. The rebuilding taking place right now in Sumatra and Sri Lanka and India hasn't gotten much television coverage.

And that's only the beginning. More than the United States, other people in other places are working every day to make this world a better place. I don't really get that vibe from CNN, as there it seems like every day there's a disaster going on and it's so frantic that you have to go through the "situation room" for a few hours every afternoon. I didn't get that from CNN, though... I saw it with my own eyes -- I did my own investigation.

And guess what? There's more to be done. Last month we allocated $25.4 billion (or something like that) to do stuff like build $7.2 million bridges in obscure places, build a new architecturally-pleasing welcome center for a small, seldom visited state park for the reasonable sum of $10.8 million. Yet we gripe and complain about sending $300 million to Africa for starving kids, most whom if given the same opportunities I had growing up wouldn't be much unlike me today.

Four Americans died in Iraq the other day as a result of a roadside bomb. I won't challenge the fact that it's tragic, sad, and that I continually pray for our troops in Iraq and in just about every corner of the globe who put their lives on the line daily to protect my freedom. The other day, in just about a thousand miles west of Iraq, sixty kids died every minute because we don't seem quite so motivated to help them. Sure, they're not Americans, but they're people, just like us.

You know, this story was also covered by the news. And, to my surprise, there wasn't much of a "good story" to find, as there wasn't much positive going on there. That got me to thinking more... are we seeking to change the world still? Or is that a dream that is dead and gone?

Maybe the news needs more positive stories to run, but they're just so hard to find that it's easier to find bad news.

What if we all really believed that we, as just a single person, could change the world? Maybe, just maybe, the nightly news might leave a smile on a few more people's faces...

Ronald Reagan believed anyone, no matter how small or big, young or old, smart or not, could change the world. That's why he called this America a "Shining City Upon a Hill", and his dream was that we may shine for all the world to see, and set an example for the world to live by.

Are we changing the world for the better? Reagan passed the torch to us. There's never been a better time than now to give it a shot. Prove the news wrong -- start doing something every day to help others believe there's still some good news left to hear.

Dreaming of a better place,
chris

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