When one considers the word "news," immediately the connotation is one of tragedies or horrific events. However, if you take away the "s" at the end of the word and just use "new," now we have a completely different perspective. There are certain things that happen that "fly under the radar" that are heartwarming, uplifting, and yes...entertaining.
Consider the cab driver in New York who unexpectedly picked up a former boss. The former boss recognized him and told him that there had been a mistake with his wages, and the NYC comptroller had a check waiting for him for $50,000 that he had inadvertently been cheated out of. What are the odds? As many cabs as there are in NYC, Jose Lopez's old boss would take a seat in his cab, recognize him after 10 years, and be honest enough to admit the mistake. Now that is NEW..."s".
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Here is another one for you. Charitable giving reached an all-time high at $373.25 billion dollars. Those numbers include all charitable organizations. Money for medical research, children's hospitals and feeding the hungry poured in from donors who had previously held the purse strings tight. Now if we could just get the money wasted on political campaigns to be used for "good," we might actually be making progress.
There is so much ink and airtime wasted on the negative events that occur daily that seldom do we take the time to commend those who tirelessly work to make a difference with little or no recognition. There are so many volunteers at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge that spend their time transitioning kids from severe injury or sickness back to a normal lifestyle. These are the people who never make the news, but they do make the difference.
Hands down the winner of the week is an eighth grader at Thomas Middle school. Tasked with giving the commencement address for the eighth-grade graduation, Jack Aiello took the stage and the audience by storm. His dead-on impersonations of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders in front of the entire faculty, student body and parents of the graduates had a much deeper meaning than the one liners that he spewed so effortlessly. Whether it was intended to amuse us or educate us, I think that it did some of both. There may have been a little exposing of just how foolish some of the political bantering has become. Kudos to an eighth grader for providing us with the levity that we need at such desperate times.
So I guess that it is just a matter of perspective. We certainly cannot run and hide from the things that are going to happen that will be depressing and disturbing. It is difficult to try and enter the minds whose only intention is to do evil. But instead of walking around with our head down and saying "woe is me," why not look upwards to the place that "Good News" truly resides--The Throne of Grace.
