The Good News

"His House She Enters, There To Be A Light"

Picture available at Lovely Whatevers

As You Go Through Life

Don’t look for the flaws as you go through life;

And even when you find them,

It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind

And look for the virtue behind them.

For the cloudiest night has a hint of light

Somewhere in its shadows hiding;

It is better by far to hunt for a star,

Than the spots on the sun abiding.

The current of life runs ever away

To the bosom of God’s great ocean.

Don’t set your force ‘gainst the river’s course

And think to alter its motion.

Don’t waste a curse on the universe –Remember it lived before you.

Don’t butt at the storm with your puny form,

But bend and let it go o’er you.

The world will never adjust itself

To suit your whims to the letter.

Some things must go wrong your whole life long,

And the sooner you know it the better.

It is folly to fight with the Infinite,

And go under at last in the wrestle;

The wiser man shapes into God’s plan

As water shapes into a vessel.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

One of the most valuable things I was taught at home was to accept that I would not always be able to figure out everything that happened in the world, or even in the Bible. I would not always get answers that satisfied my own whims, and Instead of wasting precious time wrestling over "questions and strifes of words," (Ist Timothy 6:4) and it was far better to focus on wholesome things. Life would always be part good and part bad and not everything would be fair and not everyone would be rich, but we could be rich in spirit if we filled our hearts from the good things around us.

The news media keeps people in a constant state of tension, worrying about financial collapse. It is not the best fodder for women at home, who need to keep their moods on an even level, in order to be a light to their families. I love the Good Housekeeping slogan, above, that says "His house she enters, there to be a light." The woman at home is like a lighthouse. I explained about the purpose of a lighthouse in a post a few years ago. While the upper lights can be seen at a great distance, the lower lights send a beam across the waves so that those who are in distress can see where the shore is. If you want to know a little more about the lower lights, and the meaning of the song, "Let the Lower Lights be Burning," go here http://www.ussboston.org/shore.html . Scroll down past the song to find the story that inspired it.

Now, while it is natural in this day and age to think that doing something important means to be noticed or have a prestigious career (the upper lights seen by all the world) the work that really matters, and that really saves lives, is done by the lower lights, which cast their beams along the shore to guide those who are seeking refuge. To take care of your own child and knit his soul to yours is more important than anything else. To keep house beautifully and look after a husband who is providing for his own, is better than any top-level position in the market place.

There will always be news reports that show impending doom. The stock market is going to crash. The bankers want to be bailed out or the economy will collapse.(This was addressed in "Don't Bail Out the Bankers." Months later, as I said, the bankers showed their true greed and gave all their top CEOs some hefty raises and thousands of people still lost their houses) The price of gas will increase. The interest is going to be raised on housing. According to the news, the sky is falling! If you did not grow up knowing the story of Chicken-Little and Foxy-Loxy, please read it, here http://www.edsanders.com/chickenlittle/ This was a common childhood story that helped generations of children understand some things about living.

As long as there is a news media, there will always be a scare-of-the-month, a disease-of-the-month (whatever happened to bird-flu? It was replaced by some kind of reptile threat), disaster of the day, new so-called vaccine of the month, and a new threat of the month. This enterprise thrives on this kind of fear. Jesus told about this sort of thing when He said that there shall be "wars and rumors of wars." (Matthew 24:6) He told us not to be troubled about these reports.

As I have written quite a bit about the role the news media plays in influencing people to believe a certain way about things, I will not go into the history of the news media or all the details of why they constantly report impending financial collapse and nation-wide depression. I will, however, say that 40 years ago, the manner of speaking and reporting things was very different than it is today. While they did report disaster, there was not as much manipulation in it as there is today. For example, in order to get people to buy something or to rush to get the latest drug, or to protest something, they often report a story in such a way as to compel them to just what they are hoping they will do. The news is often created and marketed by just a few major organizations . A select few people pick and choose what will be reported every day. It is not news zapped to them by God. It is news that they pick to report that will serve their best interests. They will ignore a lot of news (such as Christians being killed in Africa) and hype up other news. I explained this all in an article called "How to Stop Worrying About Politics and Get On With Your Life."

If you are interested in politics and events, this blog posts a lot of stories in good perspective

http://visionarywomanhood.blogspot.com/

One time many years ago I attended a ladies Bible class, where a lot of the older women spent a great deal of the study time relating events about their latest surgeries. They described every detail of the medical procedures and told of every pain they had. I had taken a visitor with me one day and she sat through the entire thing in silence. The actual Bible study was hard to concentrate on after hearing so much of this, and afterwards she asked me, "How can you listen to so much bad news?" I guess they had all become so used to hearing it, that they had not realized how unwholesome it was. Weeks later when I invited her to come again, she answered, "I will, if it is not another 'organ recital'".

It is my observation that the media network news is worse than most programming and more blatant than some of the ads. I have had to turn off the radio in my car when transporting children, because of the unwholesome words on the news.

For some reason, people think it is a command of God, or something, to listen to this daily. Would you let a person--a real person-- come in to your house at dinner time and fill up the time telling you bad news? We wonder why we get so anxious, but what we are listening to daily can be a source of it.

The news media helps shape society. They are movers and shakers. They spread their word and people change. One example is the news reports of the early 70's when I first married. Every time I heard it, they were saying that women could no longer stay home. They would say that a husband's income was not adequate to support a family. Husbands were coming home and telling their wives that they could no longer live on one income. Yet all through that time, there were many women who stayed with the home. Their economy did not collapse. I wrote about this on "Do What God Says Do, and Let Him Take Care of the Rest." I said in this article that you control your own economy of the home.

When considering impending economical doom, I always think of the women at home in the Depression Era. It would not have made sense for them to leave their homes to seek jobs, as there were no jobs for the men, or the women, in many areas of this country. Yet today there are people living who still relate stories of their mothers love and home life during that time. I have posted several times about the stories you will one day tell your grandchildren. Will this generation of young women have good stories to tell, or will they jump ship and go out to the workplace, leaving their children and homes in the care of others? Are they strong enough to withstand a depression and keep their families together?

If there is a news report about the economy that troubles you, does it mean you should abandon your home and go out to bring in money? We have lived through these news reports for decades, and what it comes down to is this: staying home is based partly on a belief that you should be there. That belief will carry you through "wars and rumors of wars." To some, staying home is merely an "option" or a preference. Preferences and options can change with the circumstances, but beliefs do not. Beliefs find ways around obstacles, but preferences are like fair weather friends: they do not stay the same.

I hope this in some way helps the several requests for a post about how to approach the constant reports of impending disaster. If there is such financial crisis, I do not want to be parted from my family. I want to be with them. Today, it is quite costly to go to work, with the expenses it entails, but the highest price is the price you will pay later on with your children. I certainly would never risk that. Money is not more important than being with your children. Even those who have no children are finding out that a job is not really worth the stress on their lives, and that they can fulfill all their talents and develop new skills much better at home. They can be much better helpers to their husbands if they are home based.

To test out what kind effect listening to so much bad news has on you, how about having a media blackout in your home. Every time you get the urge to listen to some, just read the Bible. When you read the Bible, read it like you would a news report. That's the Good News. We are not supposed to be dwelling on the bad news. You might not see a particular effect taking place at first, but one thing you will observe for sure: even without the news, life goes on. You can still function without it. You still have to do the things you have to do. With or without the news, you will be dedicated to your loved ones, and you can give them much more love if your mind is not clouded with the doom and gloom of the media. You will not be isolated, nor will you miss out on anything of major importance. If there is something that you need to know, there will be no way to avoid knowing it, for someone will call you on the phone and tell you, or you will merely walk past the newspaper at the grocery store and see the headlines, or turn on your computer and see the first line of the latest disaster on your home page. It is good to know of things you can do something about, but to have constant mental diet of things that you have no control over, can be debilitating to your purpose at home.

For a helpful article on the 1930's depression, go here http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#1930s

These are the other articles where I wrote about the lighthouse http://homeliving.blogspot.com/2005/02/keeping-light-on.html

http://homeliving.blogspot.com/2007/01/please-daddy-let-mamma-stay-home.html