Doom and Gloom Talk Will be Limited to Thirty Minutes

A number of seemingly disparate events this weekend merged with the readings for the third Sunday of Advent. Somehow an ice storm, a memorial service, a concert, and a story in the Washington Post all merged together in the context of the meaning of salvation and of Christmas.

Let’s start with the news. Washington Post writer Joel Achenbach has an excellent story this morning about the efforts of scientist Jeffrey Taubenberger to find a way to prevent the Avian Flu from becoming a killer epidemic. Taubenberger has a sign posted in his office at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology that reads

DOOM AND GLOOM TALK WILL BE LIMITED TO 30 MINUTES

He says the sign refers to rumors about the Base Relocation and Closing commission, not to the flu.

The sign should be posted in every newsroom.

The mindset of newspaper reporters is to warn that the wolf is coming. Just like the boy in Aesop’s fable, journalists get attention for warning of danger. Attention brings viewers (or readers) and produces advertising revenue. The mindset is so pronounced that the recent increase in life expectancy to 77.6 years (from 44 in 1900) is seen as bad news. If this sign were posted – and heeded – the networks and talk radio hosts would be outraged. They would have to limit talk about:

• How we are losing the war in Iraq
• Global Warming
• The coming flu epidemic
• The “war on Christmas”
• The social security crises
• ….

Bloggers would have to limit their postings about how the world will be ruined if their chosen political or religious cause fails.

There are times, however, when talk of doom and gloom are appropriate and we should pay attention. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “…do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good.”(1 Thess. 5:20-21) Journalists and politicians do have a legitimate role in warning us that the wolf is coming. They also have a vested interest in scaring people. When the politicians predict disasters and the media reports it, two parties benefit. The media raises advertising revenue and the politicians raise pork. If the public can't limit the doom and gloom talk, it can at least we can test what they say, hold on to the good and dismiss the rest for what it is – self-seeking scare talk.

Friday morning we had an ice storm. This was not doom and gloom – teachers and students had the day off. I, however, had a 2 inch layer of ice on the driveway, walk and front porch. This was serious. It might prevent UPS/FEDEx from supporting the commercial meaning of Christmas by delivering material goods on time. Worse, it could cause a fall, injury and a lawsuit. As soon as it warmed up – on Saturday – I set about chipping a safe path through the ice. As I chipped away I reflected that the Hebrew word for salvation refers to a safe path out of a narrow and dangerous place.

The ice and snow were clear enough for me to get to a memorial service for a young woman. This service was held at a church that does not accept the Nicene Creed and therefore does not believe in the resurrection of the body. Instead, the minister was saying that her body would become part of the universe, which she loved, and that her memory would live on in her friends and family. For me this was cold comfort.

How much better is it to believe that our bodies will be resurrected? The thought that we will finally get bodies that are healed and work properly is encouraging to me. While I don’t know what I will do when I get to the resurrection, right now I look on it as the first time I will be able to do my martial arts forms correctly! I’m thankful for the gift of being able to look on salvation as offering a safe path through the narrow and dangerous space of death. Doom and gloom need not overly concern me.

This brings us to the concert. Saturday night we heard Winter Solstice. Singer Patti Cathcart gave us what is the only appropriate reaction for those who have found themselves in a narrow dangerous place and found a safe path – salvation. With her we can sing

Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere,
go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born

I end the weekend thinking, let’s wish everyone a merry Christmas, give our gifts and send cards. If people don’t like it, or predict doom and gloom if we are “politically incorrect,” that is their problem. if the preachers give us doom and gloom about the materialism and frenzy of shopping and sending cards, just remember that preparation for Christmas is part of advent.

Here is the key: remember that the only response to finding a safe path out of doom and gloom is joy. The reason we buy gifts, send cards, decorate and get very busy - too busy - is that we want to tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere that Jesus Christ is born.