DEALING WITH THE GOOD NEWS IN BAD NEWS

AND THE LEARNING IN ALL NEWS

          I am tired of all the deaths we have gone through in the last month.  It is not simply being tired; it is watching beautiful families go through pain.  It is not simply being tired; it is having to announce things from the pulpit, which radically changes how we worship together (try lifting up the spirits of a congregation in the wake of a week with four deaths).  And, I suspect, you are also tired of it.  A lot of “spiritual energy” has been spent praying, loving, and serving one another.  We have had 13 deaths in the last month.  Several of them were members or family members of members.  Each had its particular power.  Even the non-member deaths had connections—a family member of someone whose wedding I had performed, another whose spouse’s funeral I had performed a few years ago through a friendship with a member of the congregation, and a tragic death involving a parent (and a week later-a grandparent) of a youth group member.

          We have to deal with bad news all the time.  Many older adults tell me about how depressed they get because, as they age, they hear more and more pieces of “bad news” about the health of their friends and the deaths of loved ones.  But it is not simply personal news; it is also how news in general gets communicated.  You know the adage—bad news travels faster than good news.  And the other:  bad news sells papers.  The humor nowadays is that many newspapers are in trouble because internet news services can put something out within the hour, so many people have stopped buying newspapers!

          And that is the other issue—unchecked, unvalidated news.  Too often we are

fascinated with bad news.  We don’t care how true it is or not.  We can’t wait to get the newest piece of titillating information, no matter if it is accurate or not.  And now too many news stations have moved away from good, solid investigative reporting, to where the anchors and newscasters pronounce their biases on stories, replacing information with personality and opinion.

          Let me tell you about some Good News in the midst of bad news.  I watched Youth Group members rally around their friend, and give up lots of personal time to just be there with and for him.  I watched members spend hours and hours at hospitals, helping family members prepare for deaths, but bringing them life in the midst of their travails.  I still have no clue how many cards, notes, flowers, meals, and visits were sent or given.  I just know that  many grieving people saw who we can be in Christ (and who we should be all the time), and saw the power of kindness, love, and generosity.

          Let me tell you about the members and friends of our congregation who called the church, asking how we can help the people in Haiti.  Even this week I am still getting calls—and it is heartwarming to know that several of the people who have called do not have a lot, but they consistently say—”There are people who have it worse than me, and I can help”.  Let me tell you how people responded when our member/custodian Frank Bender got injured.  It was as if there were twenty paramedics in our congregation—they were there– fast, and helpful.  They gave no thought to their schedules—they just wanted to help.

          There IS Good News in the midst of bad news—and I’m not just writing about general “goodness”.  I’m very clear that it is Holy Spirit led goodness, which is born out of the call we know is our call to love one another as Christ has loved us.  It is the Good News of how we can become thankful to God in the midst of what we face.  It is the Good News of knowing that there is a plan for our healing and our salvation, and we are called to live out of that plan and that trust in God.

          And that leads to the fourth and final learning for this moment—that God truly listens to us.  We are free to make decisions; we certainly can help or hurt situations, but God truly listens to us.  I have watched amazing things happen in this last month that could not have been determined by human choice or hand—and talked to families who agree that it could only have been the hand of God.  It is important that we share this—because this changes lives far more and better than any bad news.

          May you be strengthened in this time of collective grief, and be empowered to share who God is and how God works—both around you, and through you—in the Christ,