A gentle reminder: The world is full of problems, injustices, and heartaches… and you’re not made to handle them.
None of us are.
C.S. Lewis saw what “the news” was doing to people decades ago:
It is one of the evils of rapid diffusion of news that the sorrows of all the world come to us every morning. I think each village was meant to feel pity for its own sick and poor whom it can help and I doubt if it is the duty of any private person to fix his mind on ills which he cannot help… A great many people do now seem to think that the mere state of being worried is, in itself, meritorious.
We can’t bear the sorrows of the entire world. It’s too much. Instead, writes Paul to the Thessalonians,
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (I Thessalonians 4:11-12)
Living a quiet life is very do-able. Minding our own business is very do-able. Attending to the needs, the people, who are right in front of us? Also do-able. And much more peaceful, too.
Way more peaceful.
It all reminds me of a line from the comedian Duncan Trussell: “Some poor, phoneless fool is probably sitting next to a waterfall somewhere totally unaware of how angry and scared he is supposed to be.”
Brant Hansen
Midday Show Host, STAR 93.3
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I love this advice, Brant, and it has been exactly the anxiety antidote I’ve been looking for. Initially, I struggled with FOMO and having others say, “You didn’t hear about that?! Where have you been?” I have experienced much less anger, discontent, sadness, and anxiety when I stopped watching or listening to news. What is funny and ironic is that occasionally when I “relapse” and listen for a day or two, I find that absolutely nothing has changed. It’s all the same talking points, righteous anger, and the usual human condition that I have heard my whole life. I’m not missing out. Not. At. All. Instead, I’m spending more time talking to God, reading more books, learning about the genius of C.S. Lewis, listening to the Brant & Sherry Oddcast 😉 and experiencing so much more peace. Literally everyone could benefit from taking your advice. Thanks for all you do!
Such a good word, Brant!