All through the campaign and now during the Trump presidency, I have watched him play the media over and over. “There is no such thing as bad publicity,” is a quote often attributed to P.T. Barnum. It would seem to me that the President believes this and takes advantage of the media practically on a daily basis.
Time and again, I have watched the President make offhand remarks that could be construed as offensive. Sometimes the remarks are downright offensive, and the media has picked them up and ranted and raved about them incessantly. Most of the statements that the press has made into issues of national import could easily have been ignored, and the press could have focused its time and energy on matters of true national importance.
There ARE real matters of national importance, and it seems the press cannot bring itself to focus on them because the President keeps saying things that drive them crazy. I had an uncle who used to do the same thing, i.e., if things were too quiet, he would make some outrageous statement and everyone in the family would focus on it. He would sit back smiling as he watched everyone react to what he said.
I see this played out over and over again on a national level. This week, it is about what he said to a Gold Star widow, and every newscast in the country led with it. Of course, we all care about the feelings of the wife of one of our brave soldiers who gave his life for our country, but the press has made it into a sideshow. Again, they have been duped into spending their time criticizing the President for a poor choice of words instead of focusing on the real issues that are going on in the country. Have you heard anything about Houston, Florida or Puerto Rico this week?
As a person who would like to watch the news without this drama being continually played out, I would like to say to the press, “Stop it! Don’t take the bait. Don’t continue to totally focus on the foibles of this President. We will all be much happier and better informed if you will focus on the issues that concern us.”
If you don’t think what I’m saying is true, think back to the election. Hillary Clinton could not get any traction because the press was continually focused on Donald Trump. Most of the focus was negative, to be sure, but he still held their attention, and they continually reported on him. The press seems to be proving P.T. Barnum correct,and it is a shame to be sure.
In our country, there are two main parties, Democrat and Republican. Most people are a member of one or the other, and may or may not espouse their party’s platform. That is how our country works: we vote, elect an individual, and either two or four years later, we get to decide to re-elect that individual or vote someone else into office.
As citizens of America, we are all partakers in the grief we felt when we heard about the shootings in Las Vegas. We have a shared sense of grief whenever something like this happens in our country. The shared grief is part of what molds us and forms our national identity.
Lately, I have heard many pastors and teachers say we are living in the last days before the return of Jesus. I don’t like to take anyone’s word for something like that, so I decided to examine the evidence for myself.
One of the hardest things Jesus ever told his followers was, “Love Your Enemies.” As a believer in Jesus Christ, I have been challenged by this command ever since I first read it. How do we truly love our enemies?
Recently, my cousin received a kidney transplant. His kidneys had not functioned well for years, but he finally came to the point where he needed dialysis. He sent a letter out letting people know he needed a kidney, and many people volunteered to be a donor. Unfortunately, everyone was rejected for one reason or another. Finally, he transferred to another transplant center, and they began the process of reassessing his potential donors. After a while, a new doctor thought he had found the right match. It was my cousin’s wife who had been the first donor on the list, but had been rejected because of her allergies. Within a month, they were both in the hospital awaiting surgery. Both surgeries went well, and they were both out of the hospital within a week.
When we think about love, we don’t usually associate the word with hate. But real love, true love, agape love, it hates…people, no, but the wrongs of this world, yes. Here are some things that love hates:
The book of James tells us that our lives are like “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” When I read those words in my twenties and thirties, I understood them but they didn’t speak to me as strongly as they do thirty years later. Now, looking back on my life, it does seem like a vapor that has come and can be gone very quickly.
Jesus was talking to a lawyer about the two most important commandments. When they got to the second one: “Love your neighbor as yourself,” the lawyer, wanting to justify himself said, “Who is my neighbor?” He was probably hoping that Jesus would say, “The guy who lives next to you, you know, the one who is so similar to you that you can easily identify with him.”
I have a friend who is faced with a difficult life choice. She needs to make a decision, but has been fighting it. She is making it difficult for herself and for her family. I would love to see her make the decision and move on with her life. As I was praying for her the other evening, I said, “Lord, make it easy for her.”
