“I am beginning to really worry about where our country is headed…”

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe that this is probably the general consensus for most Americans today. In light of recent violence and other disheartening happenings, I know I have the same worry.

The thing that keeps me sane is remembering that this day in age we have everything at our fingertips. We have a twenty-four hour news cycle amplified by out-of-control social media outlets and cell-phone cameras. Bad things were happening before (maybe not at the frequency they are happening today, but maybe so) it’s just that we didn’t hear about them like we do today. And the salt certainly wasn’t being poured into the open wound day-in and day-out like it is today with the reporting of the same story over and over and over again. I know there is still good in this country, but we do not hear about it on account of our current news media situation and the bad news grossly outweighing the good.

Quite frankly, it is as counterproductive as it is depressing.

I honestly, in my heart-of-hearts, believe that if the media stopped sensationalizing every single act of violence that takes place, if they would report it once and keep the videos off the air, I honestly think that it would help keep the bad guys from becoming “famous.” Bad news breeds bad news and hate breeds hate.

What if the mainstream news media shared more good news, love, and kindness? What if the good outweighed the bad in our social media feeds? What if we stopped letting hate into our hearts? What if there was only love? I mean, could we just entertain the idea of sensationalizing the good instead of the bad for a little while and see how that goes?

Since the Paris attacks, I have been filtering my news because most days it just hurts too much to watch the news. I stay informed, but I limit my exposure to the bad news and overindulge on the good stuff. And you know what? I am so much happier for it. I am aware of the fact that I need to pray hard for our society, but no longer feel like I may develop an ulcer from watching the morning news. Selfish? Maybe. But I have a lot more love in my heart and a lot less worry, which has to be more productive – right?

I know it may not be a popular opinion, but I do not believe there is any amount of reporting the bad news, sharing it on our social media outlets, or for that matter, government oversight trying to correct the wrong doing that is going to solve all of the problems we are facing today. The fix is simple, really – we need less hate and way more love. 

We need to love even when we want to hate. And it isn’t enough to report, write, or share the hate away. Our actions, as well as our newsfeeds, must be overrun with love and kindness.

“…and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:9-10

 It’s about love, folks…