Article December 16, 2002 Issue

News beyond the headlines

Sentinel writers Warren Bolon and Marilyn Jones, and Sentinel Radio host Russ Gerber, explore spiritual responses to local and global crises.

Russ Gerber: Your work as senior writers for the Sentinel magazine becomes pretty vital in uncertain times. People are looking for context as they try to make sense of a world that's going through war anxiety, uncertainty about the economy, and personal and national security. I'd like to talk about some of the issues that you're seeing and your response to them.

Marilyn Jones: Well, as part of my job, I read a lot of magazines and newspapers to see if I can find evidence of God's influence in human affairs. I look for potential stories where I see spirituality running through people's thinking and actions. But I come across quite a few stories that are disturbing, even frightening. There often seems to be an emphasis on people who feel disenfranchised—left behind.

For example, the story of Columbine High School in Colorado, where two boys killed themselves along with 12 other students and a teacher. What surfaced afterwards was that these boys had felt out of the loop. People made fun of them. And in their e-mails, they said that they were going to get back at those who had rejected them, through violence.

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