As I was driving in to the church one morning this week I heard a wise person advocate what felt like a very smart approach to the barrage of bad news that comes at us through the media. He was talking about the effects of AI on the future of communication. His position: Adopt an information diet. Restrict your intake. Choose what you take in and then just stop. Do something else. Go outside. Play a game. Drink tea. But limit your information diet. Get enough that you are informed but know when to stop.
That resonated with me. I am a news junky and there are two things I notice about myself when I am getting too much: 1. Cynicism grows in me, and 2. I get combative and competitive. Election campaigns are classic traps for this to happen. They get under our skin and bring out our least constructive selves.
I think the combative environment that swirled around Jesus got under the skin of the disciples in a similar way. They started to snipe with each other. They started to compete with each other. They lost themselves in it. Jesus noticed it happen, and he did a very clever thing to help them snap out of it.
I won’t tell you what that was here on Friday, but if any of this sounds familiar, come on Sunday and hear Jesus’ antidote to information overload.
See you Sunday.
Will.