Dear friends,
Welcome to number 6 in what has turned out to be a longer than expected series under the heading Lessons in Hope.
A question for you.
Did you reach for your phone first thing this morning?
And did you check the news headlines?
If you did,
As many of us do,
The chances are that you have developed a habit of doom-scrolling.
There's no need to feel bad about this,
It's a common practice,
But it is something that we have to watch if we want to maintain a sense of balance and hope in our troubled world.
Before we go on to reflect on how we might be better able to handle news,
Let's enjoy a mindful pause.
Many of our worries can be eased by the practice of mindful breathing,
So let's have a short breathing exercise now,
Before a one-minute pause for reflection.
Breathing in,
I am aware that I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I am aware that I am breathing out.
Breathing in,
I remind myself of some of the many benefits of my life.
Breathing out,
I ask myself,
Has my contribution to the well-being of the world managed in any way to balance the account books of my life?
Breathing in,
I recall with gratitude so much received.
Breathing out,
I resolve to give more.
Breathing in,
I resolve to be more aware of so much received.
Breathing out,
I resolve to find opportunities to give more.
Let's have our 60-second pause now.
Welcome back.
Our modern world is awash with information,
And we are each faced with a daily information overload.
Just think of the number of news alerts which flash across our screens,
The number of headlines demanding our attention.
Notice how the algorithms of social media encourage us to stay always connected,
Usually confirming our existing prejudices,
And leading to the loss of calm and meaningful dialogue,
Dialogue with people who are different from us.
It is important that we keep ourselves informed about what is going on,
And it's good to use social media to connect with relatives and friends,
But we must bring about a situation where it is we who are in charge of what we take in.
We need to set boundaries to our news consumption,
And what an awful thing it would be if we allowed the time of our lives to be whittled away by our addiction to the trivialities of social media.
Just imagine that.
The philosopher Epictetus once said,
We cannot choose our external circumstances,
But we can always choose how we respond to them.
This advice,
Given shortly after the time of Jesus,
Remains even more relevant for us today.
How we engage with the news is a choice we make day by day,
And it has an effect on our well-being.
So how can we better manage all this?
We will take a look at some ideas after another one-minute pause for reflection.
Welcome back.
So how to manage the news?
One helpful practice might be to choose specific and limited times of the day for logging into or reading the news.
Once in the morning and once in the evening should be more than sufficient for most of us.
But having said that,
It might not be wise to begin the day,
Or end the day,
By hearing news headlines.
Headlines which,
By their nature,
Tend to be simplistic summaries of what is going on.
Should we watch the news while having breakfast or having supper?
The much revered Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh advises us to pay attention to the food we eat.
And since we cannot do two things at the same time,
This advice rules out the idea of consuming news at mealtimes.
For example,
He tells us,
Take the time to eat an orange in mindfulness.
If you eat an orange in forgetfulness,
Caught in your anxiety and sorrow,
The orange is not really there.
So if we try to do both,
We ask ourselves,
Do we swallow the orange or do we swallow the worry?
But all is not lost.
We do not have to watch the news exactly at the time of its broadcast.
We can record and listen to the news at times of our own choosing.
And we can read a newspaper whenever we like.
Mindful engagement,
Rather than constant exposure,
Will allow us to keep ourselves sufficiently informed,
While at the same time helping to preserve our mental and emotional well-being.
Another very important point is this.
As well as placing limits on the amount of time we spend news-scrolling,
We need to take particular care when deciding the sources of our news.
We live in a world where sensationalism often overrides truth.
So we must take care in selecting where our news comes from.
Is this news station or that newspaper providing reliable and objective coverage of what's happening in our area and in the world in general?
Or are we being presented with a one-sided view,
With sensationalist headlines designed to increase readership at the expense of accuracy and truth?
There is an old saying,
Don't believe everything you hear.
And the advice has never been more relevant than it is today.
Today we are faced not only with the challenge of fake news,
But also with deepfake technologies producing AI-generated videos and audio that mimic real people,
Making it appear as though these people said or did things they never actually said or did.
This is a new and an extra challenge that we have to face.
In summary,
We must exercise extreme caution when it comes to placing our trust in sources of news.
We all know of papers and news stations with the sensationalist headlines and the biased views.
Reliable sources will prioritise accuracy over speed.
They value depth and context over drama.
So we must seek out,
Support and be prepared to pay for journalism that is committed to truth.
We need also to diversify our sources of news,
But again taking time and care to find true and reliable sources.
If we read or listen only to sources that confirm our existing prejudices,
We may fall uselessly into a closed echo chamber,
Leaving us locked into our own thoughts and blind to genuine external information.
If we mindfully go about the task of news sifting,
We will protect our peace of mind without closing our eyes to the problems of the world.
This is possible and it will be aided by the practice of mindfulness.
Hopefully by logging in daily to words of wisdom from so many mindfulness teachers here on Insight Timer,
We will all grow in the art of mindful discernment.
In looking to our sources of information and news,
We must pray that journalists and reporters will always have the determination and the courage to bring us the truth.
In the Roman Catholic tradition,
St Francis de Sales is known as the patron saint of journalists,
And the following words are attributed to him.
If at times we are somewhat stunned by the tempest,
Never fear,
Let us take breath and go on afresh.
Let us be as precise and balanced as possible in our words.
He goes on.
When you speak of your neighbour,
Look upon your tongue as a sharp razor in the surgeon's hand,
About to cut nerves and tendons.
It should be used so carefully as to ensure that no particle more or less than the truth be said.
Words attributed to St Francis de Sales.
And finally,
To end this meditation,
A quote from Pope Francis.
The journalist has a role of great importance,
And at the same time a great responsibility.
In a certain sense,
You write the first draft of history.
Times change,
And the way of being a journalist changes too.
But journalists,
When they are professional,
Remain as a pillar,
A fundamental element for the vitality of a free and pluralist society.
Words there from Pope Francis.
Namaste.
