Subtract the Media

Today has significance partly because we organize our lives around the annual events calendar.
It tells us when to repeat the celebration of religious and civic holidays. Add to that our personal list of birthdays and anniversaries. And many also remember such events as the deaths of JFK and Elvis Presley. My brother and I go to the Oregon State Fair every Labor Day. It's an annual event. So again this year and for decades to come, we are going to have opportunities to relive the 9/11 tragedy on this date.

9/11 was a media bonanza. The events unfolded in the media capital of the world, with cameras running. It was sound bite quality, easy to cover--no need to wade through tons of material. It was all right there! We were transfixed. Arguably the world's greatest newspaper with world class reporters was already on the scene! The dead were mostly people of promise, --for the most part young, white, rich, American and Northern European. Heroes were identifiable. And there appeared to be a bad guy who could be tracked down and killed.

How big a tragedy would it be if you could subtract the media? Let's say this happened in Africa. 3,000 innocent people die in a day. But in the world's terms, they are not people of promise. Those dying are black, women, infants, old folks. Causes of death are malaria, AIDS, starvation. The heroes in this struggle aren't easy to identify. It happens all the time. But the media never mentions it. It's a complicated story at a remote site and those who are suffering are just not like us. No sales appeal.

On my walk this morning, I listened to Terry Gross interviewing Father Greg Boyle who works with gang members in LA. His ministry is finding employment for people most consider unemployable. His goal, he says is to emulate the God he believes in. Emulating the Source of redeeming love is good advice on 9/11 and most any day.