Bruised

Bruised (1,158)

May 26th, 2011

I have spent the last two months touring through Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin—arguably considered to be the heartland of America. I journeyed through these three states back in 2009, but had not returned until April of this year.

There have been changes.

In 2009, even though the country was going through financial upheaval, the folks I met were optimistic, hopeful and resilient. This time I met absolutely wonderful individuals whom I embraced as brothers and sisters, but I found them to be much more cautious … and brittle. I also discovered many bruises.

For you see, in the pursuit of putting forth legislation, political philosophy and social agenda in this nation, we have decided that the best way to handle this seeming progress is to punch the nation in the gut, hoping to awaken society to our particular point of view. We use the media. Whether talk shows or reality programs, the message is to create apprehension so as to stimulate interest. The media is bruising our country with an onslaught of overwrought opinions instead of reporting the facts and adding in a sweet mixture of merciful remembrance of how we have handled similar difficulties in the past with grace and style.

I am meeting people who are suspicious of the possibility of joy and peace of mind because every time they travel on the information superhighway they are “hit and run” by careless reporting. So when I return to the simplicity of faith and loving one another, it is received as trivial—out of step with the sophistication of our present social structure.

· When I talk about Jesus, they merely think of Christ, the Crucified.

· When I talk about laughter, they fear lewdness and frivolity.

· When I speak of brotherhood, they anticipate liberal jargon that is against their conservative interests.

· When I talk about the Bible, their eyes glass over with a sense of pending boredom because they feel they have already heard everything of interest.

· When I mention uniqueness, they cynically contend that “there’s nothing new under the sun.”

They fear revivalism and therefore reject the presence of true emotion in their spiritual journey. They have great trepidation over strangers so they lose many an opportunity to “entertain angels unaware.” They are the same people I met in 2009—except there has been a tremendous accident which has left them traumatized and a trifle bitter.

I share this with you because I believe there is still time for rejuvenation, but I do not think we can go forward until we understand that the “loose canon” of false representation of stories in this country, in an attempt to manipulate the populace towards either a liberal or conservative agenda, is pummeling the psyche of our people.

We are bruised. It tends to make us overly sensitive. It certainly causes us to be resistant to the better changes in our lives. What can we do about this? I think we start by understanding what has brought about this abuse on our citizens.

Would you allow me, over the next couple of days, to discuss it? I promise not to be too outlandish or overly simplistic and I do want to avoid what I see creeping into our media and entertainment—that being a “snarky” attitude. “Snarky” is a British word which means “irritable,” but to me "snarky" is a blending of “snarl” and “tacky.” That is how I would describe our present method of communicating ideas—a bit of snarl mingled with tacky. And it all begins with what I want to talk about tomorrow:

Din-formation.