It's Easter. It's Passover. Gimme some good news.
Not to sound like Andy Rooney, but did you ever wonder why we only have two choices for getting our news? The full version, or the shortcut to headline news. Breaking news. And it's always bad. I'm ready for a third option. The Good Stuff.
Instead of having horrible news streaming onto your pc and your phone and your tv, and now your iPad, how about only good news streaming in. Instead of getting beeped every 5 minutes due to some graphically horrific act of violence somewhere on earth, you would only get beeped for the good stuff. You wouldn't get beeped when little twinkles jumped on the railroad track and got stuck. You'd get beeped when Jack Flack jumped in front of a moving train to save Auntie Grace's kitty. You wouldn't get beeped because Billy Bob's cousin Richie Rags accidentally set fire to his grandmother's barn while practicing his flame throwing act for Louisiana's Got Talent. Uh uh. Instead you'd get beeped when Billy Bob singlehandedly put out that raging fire at Granny Smith's place.
You wouldn't get beeped when the governor was accused of embezzling millions. Instead you'd get beeped when the governor's wife turned him in. You'd get beeped when a 6 year old won the World Scrabble tournament. Or when a beached Whale was freed. Maybe you don't get beeped at all. Maybe it's a gong. Or a bell ringing. We all set our own ringtones now anyway. Like the Bell that rang for Freedom in Philadelphia. Or the bell that signifies School's out. Or the Bell that ends a prize fight (very good news if you ask me, it's truly a repugnant sport).
I'm wondering, if all we really heard about constantly was good news, would it change us? Would we be more inclined to help an elderly woman cross the street? If every day you heard about the generosity of your neighbors to those in need, would you be more inclined to give? If every day you heard how parents are helping to improve the schools, would we volunteer more? If every day we heard about standing up to bullies, would we step in more often? I'm not saying we shouldn't be alerted to bad stuff. Like Amber Alerts, that kind of thing. Those are necessary and important.
I just sometimes think all this bad news streaming into our heads day after day is making us harder. Colder. More Apathetic. More Pessimistic. The nightly news has become 29 minutes of doom and gloom, and 1 minute of the Good Stuff. So if someone could just develop a "good news" app for my portable devices, start a Good News network (and I'm not talking PTL here), and a Good News RSS feed...maybe I can become a better person. Maybe we all could. So on this most auspicious holiday, I will not remind you of any sort of resurrection. Or March through the Desert. Instead, I will wish you all a Happy Spring Sunday.
Instead of having horrible news streaming onto your pc and your phone and your tv, and now your iPad, how about only good news streaming in. Instead of getting beeped every 5 minutes due to some graphically horrific act of violence somewhere on earth, you would only get beeped for the good stuff. You wouldn't get beeped when little twinkles jumped on the railroad track and got stuck. You'd get beeped when Jack Flack jumped in front of a moving train to save Auntie Grace's kitty. You wouldn't get beeped because Billy Bob's cousin Richie Rags accidentally set fire to his grandmother's barn while practicing his flame throwing act for Louisiana's Got Talent. Uh uh. Instead you'd get beeped when Billy Bob singlehandedly put out that raging fire at Granny Smith's place.
You wouldn't get beeped when the governor was accused of embezzling millions. Instead you'd get beeped when the governor's wife turned him in. You'd get beeped when a 6 year old won the World Scrabble tournament. Or when a beached Whale was freed. Maybe you don't get beeped at all. Maybe it's a gong. Or a bell ringing. We all set our own ringtones now anyway. Like the Bell that rang for Freedom in Philadelphia. Or the bell that signifies School's out. Or the Bell that ends a prize fight (very good news if you ask me, it's truly a repugnant sport).
I'm wondering, if all we really heard about constantly was good news, would it change us? Would we be more inclined to help an elderly woman cross the street? If every day you heard about the generosity of your neighbors to those in need, would you be more inclined to give? If every day you heard how parents are helping to improve the schools, would we volunteer more? If every day we heard about standing up to bullies, would we step in more often? I'm not saying we shouldn't be alerted to bad stuff. Like Amber Alerts, that kind of thing. Those are necessary and important.
I just sometimes think all this bad news streaming into our heads day after day is making us harder. Colder. More Apathetic. More Pessimistic. The nightly news has become 29 minutes of doom and gloom, and 1 minute of the Good Stuff. So if someone could just develop a "good news" app for my portable devices, start a Good News network (and I'm not talking PTL here), and a Good News RSS feed...maybe I can become a better person. Maybe we all could. So on this most auspicious holiday, I will not remind you of any sort of resurrection. Or March through the Desert. Instead, I will wish you all a Happy Spring Sunday.
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