Demons, Angels

I know many people who make it a point not to watch the news.

They state, almost proudly, “I don’t watch the news.” “I can’t watch the news.” “It’s too upsetting. I can’t watch the news.” It freaks them out. They cannot stand it. They cannot separate themselves from what they see. Which is understandable. I don’t sit and stare at the famine in Malawi and feel unmoved. Far from it! But I can’t not watch. I can’t not at least TRY to know what is going on. It’s not just a need I have, or a desire. It feels like a responsibility. I have a responsibility to participate. To watch.

What I really want to say is, yes. The news can be horrific. Tragic. Stressful.

It seems like all the stories are bad – horrible – violent.

However, it seems important to remember that:

If you block out the bad, you inevitably block out the good as well. There’s a famous quote (from Kafka, I think) – which I paraphrase here: Be careful about driving out ALL of your demons. Because in doing so, you may drive out some angels as well.

This is so true.

People who do not watch the news, to avoid the horror and the violence, miss out, then, on participating in the glorious joy of news like:

– the 9 rescued miners

– the return of Elizabeth Smart

– April 9, 2003

– the capture of Saddam Hussein this past weekend

(just a couple of examples)

Regardless of all the anxiety one experiences when one watches the parade of misery which is usually the nightly news, occasionally something will come along where the entire world can rejoice. I feel sorry for the people I know who refuse to watch any news at all, ever, because they miss out. They miss out on the overwhelming joy of certain events coming along, which touch humanity, as a whole. They deny themselves that.

In shutting out the stress of the news, they also shut out the enlightenment.

And with enlightenment comes something which is so damn important: context. Without context, events cannot be understood.

I am not talking about moral relativism, or equivalence.

I am not talking about making excuses for horrible acts due to some root cause or anything like that.

I am talking about knowing that France and Germany are behaving in such and such a way, because of this event in the past, or that event in the past, and that means THIS, and so that means that then we will do THIS … so that the news you see makes SENSE.

I am talking about being semi-up to date with what is going on, so that when something catastrophic (the Bali nightclub bombing, etc.) or something wonderful (April 9, or the capture of Saddam) occurs, we know where to put it. We understand the context of the event. We can handle it.

I field phone calls from friends after big world events. For the most part the calls consist of: “Okay, so what does this mean?” But you know what they are really asking? They are really asking: “How should I feel about this? What is your take on how I should feel about this?”

I’m just another jackass like everybody else – but I watch the news and I read multiple newspapers every day – and I consciously commit to trying to figure stuff out. I have made a conscious commitment to stay in the game, to remain in the conversation.

Knowledge is power.

I have never felt that in such a strong way than in the past couple of years, since September 11. The people I know who have not gone out in search of context … are baffled, upset, freaked-out, and pretty much uninformed. So they make up their minds about things based on emotion and impulse, EVERYTHING is subjective, they are blown about by every influence, every comment … They literally don’t know what to think. And so they feel victimized by the news. Victimized by what they do not know.

I know intimately what it feels like to be intimidated by what I do not know. To feel … out of touch with the real sources of power and information. Often, I feel weak, powerless to DO anything …

There are those who become intimidated by their lack of context, and respond by shutting the whole thing out. After all, who LIKES to be intimidated or to feel that one is in over one’s head? So these people continue to live their lives narrowly, focused on only their personal experiences, the day to day, as though a major world cataclysm was not taking place. That’s fine. That’s their right. I don’t understand it – but it is their right to tune everything out. (And then call me, when something big goes down.)

I am merely saying that the people who tune stuff out because it is all BAD, miss out on a whole lot of GOOD. That’s all.

By driving out the demons, they have driven out the angels as well.

And that’s a damn shame.

They miss the chance to jump up and down for joy, because of the good fortune of people they DO NOT KNOW, people they have NEVER MET. What an incredible and life-affirming thing. Whatever your political beliefs, it doesn’t matter. Humanity is humanity.

I remember when those 9 miners were saved. I prayed for them. I wept when they came out of the earth alive. Total strangers in New York City exchanged smiles in the elevator, because those 9 miners had been rescued, men we would never meet. It was a beautiful thing to participate in.

Life is good. Life is something to be cherished. We are more than the sum of our little lives. I certainly care about my own existence, my plans, my family, my friends, my acting class – but there is a larger perspective, and for that I am INTENSELY grateful.

Elizabeth Smart returns home, and people everywhere felt relief, happiness … joy. We all were in the shoes of the Smart parents, trying to imagine their happiness. Saddam Hussein is captured – and the laughing whooping-it-up pictures of Iraqi people touch us – we get to participate in their joy. We have high hopes for them. We LOVE them, dammit.

Empathy grows in an experience like that, compassion. This is good for the human race.

If you keep your eyes to the ground, refusing to get involved, you miss out on that opportunity for growth, and that blessed opportunity for communion with others – communion with people you do not know, and will never meet.

You’ve shut out the angels.