I boycotted watching the news several years ago. It is a rare occasion these days that I even turn on my TV. I realize this is not the most responsible way to live, I just choose not to be bombarded with constant negativity. I choose to think for myself instead of what the news media wants to plant inside my head. But in doing so I am living in a bit of a bubble. I do however see the news highlights on the Internet while scrolling my social media pages and that is how I found out about the Paris attacks Friday. I turned on the TV immediately and became deeply saddened and afraid for our world…more so than ever.
Before I heard that news, I had just posted a picture on Instagram of a little boy who appeared to be from a third world country who was drinking water from a dirty plastic lid. The caption read “Yeah that red Starbucks cup is a real problem.” The ongoing saga of the controversial non-Christian holiday red cups has millions of people in an uproar apparently. Yet another company is trying to take Christ out of Christmas in order not to offend anyone. It doesn’t affect me because I cannot afford to drink $5 cups of coffee anyway…only on special occasions. My home brewed coffee in my travel mug works for me. And I am thankful for it. I could be drinking unsanitary water from a dirty plastic lid that I had to walk two miles to get.
I am not an expert on anything. I am just a woman trying to get through this life the best way I know how. I have a big God and He has blessed me in ways that millions of other people on the planet couldn’t even imagine. We have people killing other people everywhere. We have people starving to death who don’t even have a clue that stuff is going on. They don’t have a clue about Starbucks or their non-Christ red cups. They have no clue what it feels like to sit in a warm apartment with a full belly, clean clothes, a refrigerator full of food and a job to go to in the morning. They are just surviving. Barely.
It has been an emotional weekend and I am feeling more than a bit guilty for all of my wants and needs and desires. I texted a friend to see if she had heard about the Paris attacks and her response was “I don’t watch the news.” I guess I am not alone.
It is time for us to all to stop ignoring what is going on in the world. It is going to take A LOT OF LOVE. The world is hurting everywhere… “Oh, one by one, could we turn it around”
Blessings,
Stacey ~ iamalive
“But you see, all the world is just as we’ve made it
And until we got a new world I’ve got to say
That love is not a whisper or a weakness
No, love is strong, so we got to get together
Yeah, gotta get, gotta get, gotta get
‘til there is no reason to fight
Mercy, will we overcome this
Oh, one by one, could we turn it around”