Good news. That’s what we all want when we open our eyes to begin another day.
Preachers speak on the topic from pulpits every Sunday, and that is where we expect to hear good news. It comes in other places as well.
A few weeks back our pastor, Dr. Tim McClendon, talked about good news and mentioned the Anne Murray song “A Little Good News.” The lyrics talk of the singer’s plea – “… sure could use a little good news today.”
She laments the TV news about fighting around the world, a poor economy and things expected to worsen. “One more sad story’s one more than I can stand,” she sings. Don’t we all feel that way sometimes?
As the song progresses, Anne Murray tells of her wish, “Just once how I’d like to see the headline say ‘Not much to print today, can't find nothin’ bad to say’ …”
While thinking about that song and its implications for those in the news profession as well as those who are news consumers, another tune came to mind. The British group Hedgehoppers Anonymous produced “It’s Good News Week,” a song about everything except good news.
“It’s good news week
Someone’s dropped a bomb somewhere
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky”
You get the picture, and it’s anything but cheery.
But there is good news, and one doesn’t have to look far to find it. The pages of this newspaper have plenty of just that. As I write this on Thanksgiving morning, the headlines told of a substantial gift to the Aiken Horse Park, a community Thanksgiving meal to be served, a children’s book being published by an Aiken author and a local artist as well as volunteers in North Augusta giving their time for others.
Sure, there is other news that is not so pretty. There are daily reminders of COVID-19 and its repercussions on daily life. We constantly hear about the election and its aftermath three-plus weeks later. And if we tune in to local TV stations, we are bombarded by political ads from Georgia’s two runoff races for Senate.
We can find bad news in print, on the air and through the internet. But we can also find good news if we look for it. Sometimes it is the neighbor who brings over a surprise cake. Or it’s the stranger who offers a helping hand when we need it. Occasionally it is the smile from a friend or the “I love you” from a grandchild.
The world is full of good news. We just have to be willing to look for it and recognize it when it happens.
Recently I have started working the daily feature Cryptoquote on the puzzle page of the Aiken Standard. Each letter in the puzzle stands for another one, and it is the job of the player to figure out the substitution. One puzzle solution was recently something from Sam Lefkowitz. “When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty, my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup.”
It is good news when we realize that our blessings are having the cup, not figuring out its fullness or emptiness. We are entering the time of year when good news is evident all around. People are busy preparing for holidays, buying gifts, making plans. Christmas music plays non-stop on some radio stations and in stores. Good news all around in December.
But in spite of what Anne Murray and Hedgehoppers Anonymous sing, there is good news throughout the year. We just have to look for it.
"that" - Google News
November 29, 2020
https://ift.tt/33pbC7m
THIS AND THAT: Can you find a little good news today? - Charleston Post Courier
"that" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3d8Dlvv
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