Not the news
15/03/14 05:12
OK so this is not the news. That’s no surprise to those who have read this blog more than a few times. There are a lot of other places on the Internet where you can get the news. And this is definitely not the news.
I do pay attention to the news. Before I write my blog each morning, I scan the headlines from a half dozen new sites from BBC to the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and New York Times. I also check out the news from Costa Rica and Australia as well as scanning the headlines from our local newspaper’s web site. When I was in seminary, it was taught that Karl Barth once said, “We must hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” With the advent of computers to check quotes, we now know that there is no documented evidence of Barth actually saying those exact words. He did, however, frequently mention the connection between the news and Christian faith. In 1963, Time Magazine published an article about Barth that said, “[Barth] recalls that 40 years ago he advised young theologians to take you Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”
Let’s see - 40 years before 1963 is 1923. Yup, the newspaper would have been the way to obtain the news in those days. These days newspapers are dim reflections of things you have already learned from other sources. We still subscribe to a daily newspaper and i still read a fair amount of it, but I don’t really consider it a source of the news.
But this blog is not the news.
Occasionally I comment on the news - more often on some trivial story I found than on the things that are garnering national headlines. For example did you know that at 8 pm tomorrow they are going to close the Des Plaines Oasis forever? I guess you have to have driven to Chicago to know about the Des Plaines oasis. It is a really cool rest stop built into a highway overpass. On each side of the Jane Addams Tollway there are ramps to gas stations and parking lots. From those parking lots you can walk into the oasis, which has a food court, shops, vending machines and games and floor to ceiling windows from which you can watch the freeway and the cars and trucks racing below. In the days when we lived in Chicago there was also a row of pay phones, but I’m pretty sure the phones have disappeared by now.
It is a real icon of Chicago. When we drove under the oasis it seemed like we were really getting to the city. When we stopped there, it was as much fun for me to watch the planes flying in and out of O’Hare International Airport as watching the freeway below. I guess I’ve always been looking up.
They are closing the oasis. And that might be news for some of you - especially those who have no idea what the Des Plains Oasis is in the first place.
I bet that many of you didn’t know about the closing of the Des Plaines Oasis. So maybe sometimes you read something in this blog that is news to you. But this blog is not the news.
I guess I should add that this blog is also not “Not the News.” A quick check of Google reveals that WFXB television in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has a show called “Not the News.” This is not “Not the News.”
And this isn’t Snap Judgment, a Public Radio podcast hosted by Glynn Washington, who often closes an episode with a disclaimer that describes in a brief story how far away from the news the podcast is. I enjoy listening to Snap Judgment. It is a great example of word art - stories told to the beat of music. I’ve become a bit of a fan of word art and have been privileged to collaborate with pianist Justin Speck in a couple of carefully crafted word art pieces for our church. Sometimes I am inspired by the word art of others, even though Snap Judgement pieces are much more highly produced than the live art we share in worship.
So it is possible that Glynn Washington is correct in his claim that Snap Judgment is farther from the news than a lot of things - maybe even this blog. But this blog is not the news.
Obviously you’ve read this far without any mention of the missing Malaysian Jetliner, the upcoming Crimean election, the protests in Venezuela, the shift in deportation policy in the administration, or peace talks in Syria. You should check out other sites if you need the news.
At one time I had the subheading, “reflections of a pastor” on the blog page in my web site. But those words have been gone from my site for nearly 5 years now. The blog is, obviously, reflections of a pastor. But it is not really stories of my work as a pastor. Too many of those stories aren’t mine to tell. I spend much of my time witnessing the stories of others.
The truth is that I don’t really know what this blog is. It is an expression of my drive to write. I enjoy writing and it gives me an excuse to write every day. It now is a collection of essays - I am most comfortable writing essays. It is a bit of commentary about the intersection of faith and life. I’m not afraid to talk about faith or even discuss theology in my blogs. It is a bit of personal reflection - a sort of on-going memoir of the life and times of a preacher in the Black Hills.It is occasionally a demonstration of the wide range of topics that capture my interest. I’m an eclectic thinker and I enjoy musing about a wide variety of topics. From time to time this blog is a demonstration of my rather twisted sense of humor.
But it is not the news.
I do pay attention to the news. Before I write my blog each morning, I scan the headlines from a half dozen new sites from BBC to the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and New York Times. I also check out the news from Costa Rica and Australia as well as scanning the headlines from our local newspaper’s web site. When I was in seminary, it was taught that Karl Barth once said, “We must hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” With the advent of computers to check quotes, we now know that there is no documented evidence of Barth actually saying those exact words. He did, however, frequently mention the connection between the news and Christian faith. In 1963, Time Magazine published an article about Barth that said, “[Barth] recalls that 40 years ago he advised young theologians to take you Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”
Let’s see - 40 years before 1963 is 1923. Yup, the newspaper would have been the way to obtain the news in those days. These days newspapers are dim reflections of things you have already learned from other sources. We still subscribe to a daily newspaper and i still read a fair amount of it, but I don’t really consider it a source of the news.
But this blog is not the news.
Occasionally I comment on the news - more often on some trivial story I found than on the things that are garnering national headlines. For example did you know that at 8 pm tomorrow they are going to close the Des Plaines Oasis forever? I guess you have to have driven to Chicago to know about the Des Plaines oasis. It is a really cool rest stop built into a highway overpass. On each side of the Jane Addams Tollway there are ramps to gas stations and parking lots. From those parking lots you can walk into the oasis, which has a food court, shops, vending machines and games and floor to ceiling windows from which you can watch the freeway and the cars and trucks racing below. In the days when we lived in Chicago there was also a row of pay phones, but I’m pretty sure the phones have disappeared by now.
They are closing the oasis. And that might be news for some of you - especially those who have no idea what the Des Plains Oasis is in the first place.
I bet that many of you didn’t know about the closing of the Des Plaines Oasis. So maybe sometimes you read something in this blog that is news to you. But this blog is not the news.
I guess I should add that this blog is also not “Not the News.” A quick check of Google reveals that WFXB television in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has a show called “Not the News.” This is not “Not the News.”
And this isn’t Snap Judgment, a Public Radio podcast hosted by Glynn Washington, who often closes an episode with a disclaimer that describes in a brief story how far away from the news the podcast is. I enjoy listening to Snap Judgment. It is a great example of word art - stories told to the beat of music. I’ve become a bit of a fan of word art and have been privileged to collaborate with pianist Justin Speck in a couple of carefully crafted word art pieces for our church. Sometimes I am inspired by the word art of others, even though Snap Judgement pieces are much more highly produced than the live art we share in worship.
So it is possible that Glynn Washington is correct in his claim that Snap Judgment is farther from the news than a lot of things - maybe even this blog. But this blog is not the news.
Obviously you’ve read this far without any mention of the missing Malaysian Jetliner, the upcoming Crimean election, the protests in Venezuela, the shift in deportation policy in the administration, or peace talks in Syria. You should check out other sites if you need the news.
At one time I had the subheading, “reflections of a pastor” on the blog page in my web site. But those words have been gone from my site for nearly 5 years now. The blog is, obviously, reflections of a pastor. But it is not really stories of my work as a pastor. Too many of those stories aren’t mine to tell. I spend much of my time witnessing the stories of others.
The truth is that I don’t really know what this blog is. It is an expression of my drive to write. I enjoy writing and it gives me an excuse to write every day. It now is a collection of essays - I am most comfortable writing essays. It is a bit of commentary about the intersection of faith and life. I’m not afraid to talk about faith or even discuss theology in my blogs. It is a bit of personal reflection - a sort of on-going memoir of the life and times of a preacher in the Black Hills.It is occasionally a demonstration of the wide range of topics that capture my interest. I’m an eclectic thinker and I enjoy musing about a wide variety of topics. From time to time this blog is a demonstration of my rather twisted sense of humor.
But it is not the news.