praying in front of the tv
I have a confession to make. Since the coronavirus lock-down in March, I have become addicted to the televised news. It didn’t happen all at once. As with all addictions it started gradually and over the months it grew and grew. I became absorbed with the daily rising counts of the infected and those who had died. When I saw projections that the death toll from COVID could reach 250,000, I was incredulous. It just didn’t seem possible. Yet here we are. But I was just as mesmerized by the rhetoric and claims of hoax brought on by the pandemic paired with the presidential election. By November 3rd I was in full addiction mode.
The election ended in some people’s minds on November 7th, when Joe Biden became our president-elect. I know that there are those still disputing this, but I’ve taken the opportunity to detach a little bit from my insatiable “need to know”. I’ve cut way back on my consumption; and even more importantly, I have taken to praying as I watch the news. Instead of satiating a voyeuristic fascination with the latest insanity, I’ve taken a step away and reminded myself that God is watching over my shoulder. And he knows where all this will end. I don’t have to fix it. That’s a comfort, since I cannot possibly do so.
So how am I praying? I’m praying for our president. Though I’ve spent my life as a registered Republican, I’m not a fan and never have been. But I’m praying for him to find peace with his defeat and that he will do the right thing for democracy on his way out the door.
I’m praying for the patience, perseverance and health of our president-elect. Garrison Keillor, who is the same age as Mr. Biden, wrote in the week after the election: “Seventy-eight is the age when you feel a strong urge to lie down and turn off the phone and put your favorite Emmylou Harris album on the turntable. But Joe didn’t look sleepy as he came jogging out to the lectern Saturday night in Wilmington.” All the same, he has a HUGE task ahead of him. I’m tired FOR him! I am praying for his stamina, and that, if he does need an occasional nap, someone will let him shut his eyes for 15 minutes or so.
I’m praying for all those who are spewing hatred and fear and misinformation on every news station. I know how hard it is to keep eyeballs on the screen. I’m married to a man who spent 25 years as a TV and film producer, and I know the temptation to “jump the shark” when you have to vie for ratings on a show that is getting stale. (If you don’t know the term, Google it.) Many of the news commentators are mastering “jumping the shark” by promoting conspiracy theories that they found unconscionable in 2016. I pray for them and all their aiders and abettors in the political swirl of Washington who give them sound bites to “amp up” their bases. Lord, have mercy!
And I’m praying for us all…for the cognitive and confirmation bias that we each lean into: the tendency to search for information that confirms what we already believe. “Psychology Today” cited Mercier and Sperber’s book “The Enigma of Reason” saying, “Oftentimes, the actual consequences of particular party positions matter less to our daily lives than the social consequences of believing in these party positions. Our desires to hold identity-consistent beliefs often far outweigh our goals to hold accurate beliefs. Blocking out information we disagree with—through creating social media echo chambers, reading partisan news, or only surrounding ourselves with friends who agree with us—can also lead to our opinions becoming more extreme.” Can it get more extreme than what I am witnessing now? God help us all.
So, I watch less news, but not no news. I’m not going to stick my head in the sand. I watch and pray that the most dire predictions that anyone is making right now, will not come to pass. Will you pray with me?
Love, Liz
Here’s another prayer that we sing every Advent:
“O come, O come, Emmanuel…
Bid Thou our sad division cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace."
Translated from Latin by John M. Neale & Henry S. Coffin
