The Neighborhood

Last week I wrote a column about Abraham Lincoln, wheelbarrows, French acrobats, the Civil War, politics, and dumpster fires. To introduce all of these ideas, however, I pointed out that I get most of my news from NPR and do so for two basic reasons: one, I find this source less ideologically slanted than some other sources, and secondly, the tone of the reporting is on the chill side, which is helpful for my mental health.

I did not suggest that NPR is unbiased.

NPR is made up of human beings and humans are inherently biased, and so it would be quite the trick for an entire news organization made up of biased humans to produce unbiased news. As a general rule, if we think our news source is unbiased and simply “tells it like it is,” it probably means it’s actually “telling it how we want to hear it” and is merely reinforcing our world view. That, in itself, is not good or bad, it’s just reality, but we do need to acknowledge that truth and accept that our world view is one of many.

Like, many, many.

Regardless, one piece of evidence I would use to suggest that NPR is somewhat less slanted than many other outlets, however, is the debate night recap I listened to on the way to school last Friday. For a few minutes, the reporter talked about the debate with two people: a Republican strategist and a Democrat strategist. The reporter gave each guest equal air time and didn’t interrupt. The guests were very pleasant to each other and were able to disagree agreeably; they highlighted what they saw as their candidate’s “hits,” pointed out their opponent’s “misses,” and, perhaps most impressively, conceded some spots where their own candidate was less than impressive, such as when former Vice-President Biden sidestepped questions on Ukraine or when President Trump suggested that no other President had done more for Black people, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.

As the interview wrapped up, the reporter thanked the guests for their time and they, in turn, thanked the host for inviting them to speak. It was civil. It was three adults talking like adults, and it reinforced my own world view that talking is better than yelling, and that listening is better than both.

As far as the second point, the tone of this interview helped to reinforce another one of my world views, and that’s that the world needs to chill out a little bit and listen more.

God tells us in the Bible, repeatedly, through multiple authors, to love God, to love our neighbors, and not to worry about the future. Whether it’s James pointing out the absurdity of making long distance plans or Paul telling us not to be anxious about anything; whether it’s David finding comfort in God as shepherd or Christ himself reminding us that worrying won’t add a single hour to our lives, the message is clear and unambiguous: God is sovereign.

God is in charge, not the President, not the Supreme Court or Congress, not the World Health Organization or the United Nations, and certainly not Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.

God is sovereign now and will continue to be so on November 3^rd, or 4^th, or 28^th, or whenever they tell us who won the election.

This is not an endorsement for apathy or an indictment for advocacy. By all means, vote for your candidate, debate for your opinion, finance the organization of your choice, but please do it in a way that is respectful to your neighbor and edifying to your creator.

This is also not meant to be a glib “don’t worry, be happy, God’s got this,” feel good message.

The world is, absolutely, messed up. The world is broken. Anxiety is perfectly normal, and it’s also perfectly normal, and healthy, to confront that anxiety with professional and pharmaceutical help. After all, if our hearts, livers and lungs merit medicine, then surely our minds deserve the same respect.

What is not healthy, however, is saturating our days in gloom, scrolling from one terrible news event to the next, or listening to angry ideologues financed by rich ideologues demonize the “other.”

Concerning the other, one of Christ’s most powerful messages came when an expert in the law asked him what he needed to do to be saved.

As Jesus had a tendency to do, he answered the question with his own. “Well, what does the law say?”

“To love God with all my heart, mind, and being.” The expert answered. “And to love my neighbor as myself.”

            Jesus agreed with his response, but the expert wasn’t finished.

“And who is my neighbor?” he continued, confident that Jesus was about to give him permission to categorize folks into “us” and “them.”

But, as Jesus had a tendency to do, he answered the question with a story, about a dying man on the side of the road, and about a Samaritan, of all people, who saved his life.

Which, in turned, begged the question again: Who, precisely, is our neighbor?

The broken man? The inn keeper who healed him?  The religious leaders who saw him bleeding and left him to die? The Samaritan who saved his life?

Yes.