Almost daily I review major books, newspapers, magazines, and surf the TV/Internet to gain understanding about the human condition, principally in America. I want some evidence for daily life context as we have it, described in the media. Today, April 23, 2011, touches my search. I often write for days on different dates than appear for the Page, as is the instance for today. I make choice for days relating themes to what has been written for the date over the years. My major illustrative source for today, in deference to limited space, is the Wall Street Journal. The date, 4/22/11, is Saturday, between Good Friday and Easter this year. Advent is an appropriate time period for accent on thoughts about God in Jesus Christ, and mankind related to Christian life and mission in the world. High in my thought life is the conflict of righteousness and sin, as these matters touch life and society as we know it. What are the facts and ideas with which we evaluate who we are and what we do in life as that context relates to morality?
I begin with appreciation for the Journal. Over time it includes more articles for spiritual consideration, for areas in which I am particularly interested, than any other secular newspaper I have reviewed. Page A-1 began with a photo and reference to Easter in the Near East area of the globe. This is an important news item in a world of nearly two billion Christians (interpreted) observing Christ’s crucifixion. We turn to the inside pages. Articles appear on: the poor maintenance of assigned persons that led to the BP oil spill the Gulf of Mexico that cost lives and daily welfare of thousands of persons; the costs and deaths in the current revolts, in Libya and other Arab nations; the losses in excessive fuel prices leading to some deprivation; the lack of law in Iran that makes any uprising a failure; the precipitous decline in a Wall Street house that managed tens of billions of dollars, identified with failing economies; the serious inflation that may add recession years; the smart phones that track persons without their knowledge; the interest in finding life on another planet; the athletics on college campuses that distort the reality of values in education and careers of individuals; the tragic lives of persons who spent years in Russian gulags, with the loss of family children; the brutality and fear in warfare; the full body tattoos; the rape in leading University fraternities, not addressed by the authorities; and, like articles. I feel drowned by world sorrow. Two articles reflect issues of families and values that emphasized decline. One was a book review, occupying a full page in all, that told the story of William Styron, a name well known to anyone who visited a bookstore after World War II. Written by his daughter, Alexandra, the book chronicles the bitter fighting, the infidelity, drunkenness, and family lifestyle, ending with the tragic decline of Styron in his last years. The Journal’s reviewer is astonished at the book. (Reading elsewhere, I found Styron’s friends also astonished.)
If space allotted, I would summarize another article for purpose here. It was written by Peggy Noonan, and titled: What World Sees In America. Her comparisons of American conduct with nations of history tend to accent the folly of our present approach to ourselves and our culture, and to that of others. She notes that we have much to be proud of, but what does the visitor to our shores see and feel? They first see checkers in airports patting genitals; they go to a hotel and click through the TV stations seeing junk, with nymphs living together, complaining, dancing provocatively, wasting time and pulling hair; they see persons loud, profane, without values, without modesty – and so the story goes with many more Viagra commercials than are needed. She clicks off riots at McDonalds, a lad with a gun in school, and other features. It’s funny, she writes, that we fail to save ourselves, while we try to save the world. We say we seek better ways, and may even believe we try to live them. That isn’t the way it comes out. An article in another paper, raised the issue of why the American government has given so much to the world to solve problems and has gained so little love and appreciation? The solution will be found in believing and doing the right in ourselves, and then sharing the largess of that blessing with the peoples of the earth. It doesn’t happen with simply trying to buttress governments (some of which are corrupt), nor in following a carnal pattern of influence and conniving, but in the faith of right and programs that nurtures life and spirit in the people. The contributions need to be known and identified in human dignity. From the articles found in the Journal, The Atlantic, and others of that quality we are a troubled people. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020