I used to love reading the print news. I know that may seem strange coming from someone who straddles the GenX and Millenial age ranges since it is widely assumed that our generation’s addiction to technology is killing print media. My interest in print media developed at an early age as I used to peruse the Hamilton Journal News at my parent’s home, focusing mainly on local articles and the arts section. That interest has continued through adulthood as I currently have subscriptions to four magazines and two newspapers and that doesn’t include the random magazines that come to my house throughout the year from Thrivent, my alma mater Miami University, or other places that have me on their customer mailing list. Despite being surrounded by a trove of print media each week, I am finding it harder and harder to pick it up and read it.
I used to consider print media as the last bastion of truth in reporting. I have long ago given up on any “news” program that airs on TV as the majority of the program is commentary and spin on things that may or may not be fact, the focus has shifted to ratings rather than reporting. I held onto the hope that social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook could be a source for real news, but as we have seen, anyone can post something claiming it is true, and many people who see it will believe it and share it. News has become so politically divided that each political side claims to own “the real truth” and anyone who doesn’t believe them is a moron or propagator of a massive conspiracy. It feels like we have lost the ability to know “the truth” and that is immensely debilitating.
I had a similar experience during my first month at seminary in my Introduction to the Old (First) Testament class. My professor told us, “the great flood of Noah, as you think of it, probably didn’t happen.” She went on to say that there was probably a flood at some point in history, that seemed like it covered the whole earth to the people at that time, but in all reality, they had no idea that the earth was round or what was on the other side. This shook me to my core for a while. What I considered “truth” in the Bible was maybe not as truthful as I thought it was. It could have just been commentary, by the author, about a historical fact mixed with a dose of God’s faithfulness in saving humanity. Where could I find truthful reporting about the God of history?
My quest for truth in the media and truth in the historical accounts of the Bible may continue to frustrate and confound me for the rest of my life, but the good news is that we can put our hope in the Truth (capital T) that is revealed to us through Scripture, that Jesus Christ came to show us the kingdom of God and that God has power over death. While all of the details may be up for speculation, we have faith in the true message of the story, that our God is a God of truth, justice, and mercy. Life is never as easy as a dichotomy, an either/or, a black/white, we live our lives in the multiple hues of the continuum of grayness; and while that may frustrate us at times, the search for truth usually happens in the liminal space, the margins, somewhere between.
Not yet making a cone hat out of foil,
Pastor Corey
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