Article September 28, 1992 Issue

Watching the news, watching what influences us most

How do you respond to emotion-packed news reports? There's a way that can benefit humanity.

Channing Walker

When live news coverage of riots in one city ignites parallel riots in cities hundreds or even thousands of miles away, the news media themselves can seem an evil. When footage of the burned-out aftermath touches off an unprecedented flood tide of giving, the same media can seem to be the tool of angels.

Many things influence the way we respond to the news that comes into our homes. Some news stories appear designed to encourage rage or fear or self-righteous indignation. Others are aimed at tapping our compassion and charity. But our response need not be dictated by a news director or reporter or photographer. Nor does it have to be influenced by the criminal or victim being photographed. Whether the images are heartwarming or horrifying, if the story demands a healing response—and most news stories do—we can be guided in that response by the ever-present influence of the Christ.

Man is not a pawn. Therefore no viewer has to be one. It is the power of Christ, the divine message speaking to human thought, that enables us to choose how we will respond—and to make that choice a healing one. Christ is what inspires us to care for one another. When someone desires to care for a neighbor or a stranger whom he sees suffering, and when he actually gets up and puts his desire into action, it is the Christ, the spirit of Love, that is moving him both to care and to act. This is true even for the individual who does not think of himself as a Christian. The Christ is always present in human consciousness, though often unnoticed. As we become more aware of this divine activity and influence—what it is and how it operates—we gain more dominion over our feelings and over how we act on those feelings.

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