I do not need the media to be my parent. . .

One of my greatest frustrations in this time of pandemic is the way that the media, in particular, and others have become parental figures, telling us what we should think, how we should act, and what to believe.  Frankly, I do not watch the news to hear the voice of a parent who presumes to be the educated, informed, and authoritative voice to my ignorance, cluelessness, and lawlessness.  What I expect from the media is information without commentary.  And that is hard to find, especially in these days of panic and hysteria.  As a nation we are enthralled by the idea of breaking news, of conspiracy theories, and assigning blame (especially for things none of us knows how to fix).  This is the fodder of the 24 hour news cycle in which old news is repeated as if it were new, opinion is offered in place of news, and blame instead of facts.  I do not know about the rest of you, but I am tired of it all and do not need the news media to be my nanny or parent and feed me what I am supposed to know, think, or feel.  If you are old enough, I hearken back to the words of Sargent Joe Friday.  Just the facts. . . just the facts.

So far my rant against the nanny state and the media presuming to serve in that role. . .

One of my other frustrations is the extreme lack of common sense.  When it has come down to educating people on the value of washing their hands or counting how many warm bodies are in any one place at one time, Houston, we have a problem.  What ever happened to common sense?  The shortages in the supermarkets and store shelves have less to do with a real scarcity than they do a people who lack common sense and who are acting in panic.  Calm down, people.  Think this through.  Don't let your panic write checks your reason cannot cash (to redo an old expression my grandmother said).  This will be a whole lot easier on all of us if we simply use some common sense.  Go to the store when you have to and buy what you need but do not hoard things for the apocalypse.  Go to the doctor when you are symptomatic.  Follow the medical advice you receive.  Do not over think this.  And, for God's sake, watch a movie (not Contagion), a good movie, a comedy (Princess Bride) where there is a happily ever after.  You need something to balance out the bad news that you are being fed.

And pray.  Do I need to say that again?  Pray.  Pray for others before yourself, for your enemies before your friends, for the political leaders who make hard decisions, for the medical personnel who care for the sick (and are in the most danger!), and for your church (and maybe your pastors, too!). 

And read the Scriptures.  There are countless Bible passages of hope and comfort for ever circumstance.  Read them.  Read them over again.  Keep reading them over again.  If you cannot find them, Google "Bible Passages of Comfort."

And confess the Creed and read the Catechism.  Think about this, if you confess the creed every time you wash your hands and it would help with more than just memorizing the text!

So far my rant against the lack of common sense that makes us vulnerable to panic and fear. . .