IT'S depressing to read the newspapers these days. The usual fare covers the regular suicide bombings in Iraq, Avian Flu, AIDS, child prostitution, violent deaths and gruesome road accidents.
I know all these make the headlines but sometimes I like to read Mother Teresa-type of stories. Ordinary people helping people who are worse-off than them. We sure could use some good news on a daily basis.
It's no fun coming across articles like one misguided chap, male or female, blowing himself up and taking 20 other innocent lives in the process. I want to read articles and reports that make me want to get up from chair and shout, "now that's what I call living!"
Newspapers are not only the harbingers of sad and bad news, it is also the hailer of wonderful discoveries, historic events and unusually lucky breaks for ordinary blokes. Magazines and newspapers have a responsibility to give people hope, joy and some peace of mind.
We don't want to read stories about how our neighbours staying two roads away had been murdered in their sleep and their house was burnt to cinders as well. Ordinary citizens don't want to learn all the safety measures to take when they go for a holiday, or how to keep their children away from drug dealers. What kind of life is that if we have to be on our guard all the time, or live in fear everyday of the rest of our lives?
Mothers want to know that their children can go to school safely and not be in any danger of being kidnapped. We want to keep our children away from pornography and other forms of smut.
We want to know there are saints walking among us. We want to hear stories about "angels" who carry out random acts of kindness and charitable deeds without claiming any knowledge of them.
Good news can make us want to do good ourselves. We are basically nice people. Most of us wait for a chance to do good. That shouldn't be so. We can do good without any prompting but human beings are such shy creatures. We need to be given a nudge or two.
No wonder some bibles are called Good News. For heaven's sake, we need good news. I need good news.
That is why the term "feel-good" has come into play in recent years. We label some movies that make our hearts jump for joy as "feel-good" movies. Some of us actually feel ashamed to call anything "feel-good", as if it is a crime to be label as such.
I recall back about 30 to 40 years ago, there were a host of movies coming out of Hollywood that were filled with all kinds of hopeful messages. They rekindled the confidence people have in their own kind.
I remember one most vividly. It was It's A Wonderful Life. It was so uplifting that years later I still pine for that movie. In fact, I am looking for a DVD version of it but have failed so far. It is a movie that every family should watch over and over again until the moral of the story is deeply embedded in their psyche.
The Canadian singer Anne Murray once sang a song that goes something like this: "There's only good news today...." I remember that song very well and I like it very much. It reflects my own philosophy of life.
Everyday, when I read the newspapers, I deliberately look for stories that have a positive spin. Stories like that remind me that there are good things happening out there without our knowledge all the time. Good stories serve as beacons of hope for all those looking for the light.
In such gloomy times of economic stresses and unnatural disasters, stories of joy, hope, happiness and peace are welcomed like warm blankets and hot cups of coffee on a cold winter night.
So let's pray for good news to come our way, everyday in everyway. Amen.
Try this if you're are bored
Call all knife knuts
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