PRAYERS FOR THE MEDIA

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The prayer below was written by Mike Smith, Editor

of the Spartanburg Herald Journal, Spartanburg, South Carolina.

This is only part of it - the link to the entire prayer is below this text.

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Lord, the traditional institutions of the media are crumbling under economic pressure. While some of us may be tempted to celebrate this destruction, the death of these institutions will leave a void that will be filled by less responsible avenues of information. Already, news outlets that seek to provide objective information are over-shadowed by outlets that seek only their own segment of our population and tell that fraction only what they want to hear. This divides rather than unites us. This often obscures rather than reveals the truth. And it furthers the antagonism in our society that demonizes anyone who disagrees with the prevailing views.

 Lord, give our people a renewed hunger for the truth rather than the confirmation of their own preconceptions and prejudices. You have told us that the truth will set us free.
Too many of us are not interested in learning the truth and
too few of us are interested in spreading it.
 Change our hearts Lord.
 Give our nation a true curiosity to learn the truth and allow those news outlets who reveal that truth to grow and prosper.

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Lord, too often we see a media today that looks down its nose at traditional social institutions, at ethical standards other than its own relativism, at faith itself. Give those of us in the media respect for those institutions, values and faith.
 Help us to realize that God is not mocked, and when people of faith and devotion to you are denigrated that our society is harmed, cheapened and made a little more brutal.

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Lord, give us a media that lifts us up rather than drags us down. Give us a media that celebrates the good rather than the evil. Help our media and our society to move away from the voyeurism and the celebration of degradation that characterizes much of our entertainment. Help us not to revel in gossip and the tearing away of others’ privacy. Help us to rise above an interest in seeing others debase themselves by surviving tortures and being stripped of human dignity.
 Lord, give us a news and entertainment media that pushes us to become better rather than to reduce us to our basest level.

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Lord, make us a media that acknowledges evil but refuses to celebrate it. Make us a media that exults in triumph and perseverance and joy and virtue. Lord, make us a media that tells us what is happening and tells us forthrightly and honestly. Make us a media that not only tells us what’s wrong, but make us a media that also points us to whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. Let us report on what is excellent or praiseworthy as well as what is outrageous and shocking.

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Lord, make us a media that acknowledges the worst in us, but refuses to wallow in that evil.
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To see the complete prayer, go here:

http://www.mikehamlet.com/index.php/2010/05/07/prayer-for-our-media
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From The Book of Common Prayer

of the Episcopal Church

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Prayer 39.  For those who Influence Public Opinion

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Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age

by many voices; Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak

where many listen and write what many read;

that they may do their part in making the heart

of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous;

to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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 The prayer below is from the Catholic

Pauline Order, a media-centered religious group

of priests and brothers.

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Father, in a world deafened by a cacaphony of sounds,

 may all be able to hear your whispering voice. 

We ask this first of all for ourselves, men dedicated to the
 Sacred Scriptures and the teaching of the Church, who must
 communicate your truth, Father, in a world

 that would prefer to hear lies.

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Secondly, we ask this for all who work in media,
 the press, radio, television, the internet.
 May they cherish truth more strongly than their own
 prejudices and personal agendas. May they present truth
 in a way that will enlighten hearts rather than
 inflame passions and conflicts.

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Thirdly, we pray for the artists and musicians of the world.

 May they utilize their talents to give you glory and in the
 process receive the recognition that they deserve.

 May they expose the horror and error of sin and 

the beauty and truth of virtue. We ask this Father,
 in the name of your Son, our Divine Master, the Way,
 the Truth and the Life, who lives and reigns gently with you,
 and the Holy Spirit, one loving God, forever and ever.

 Amen.

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UNDERSTANDING BRINGS COMPASSION

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Before the Vietnamese monk

Thich Quang Duc burned himself alive

in 1963, he meditated for several weeks and

then wrote very loving letters to his government,

his church, and his fellow monks and nuns

explaining why he had reached that decision.
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When you are motivated by love and

the willingness to help others attain

understanding, even self-immolation can be

a compassionate act.  When Jesus allowed

Himself to be crucified, He was acting

in the same way, motivated by the desire

to wake people up, to restore understanding

and compassion, and to save people.

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When you are motivated by anger

or discrimination, even if you act in

exactly the same way, you are doing

the opposite.

When you read Thich Quang Duc's

letters, you know very clearly that he

was not motivated by the wish to oppose

or destroy but by the desire to communicate.

When you are caught in a war in which the

great powers have huge weapons and complete

control of the mass media, you have to do

something extraordinary to make yourself heard.

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Without access to radio, television,

or the press, you have to create new ways

to help the world understand the situation

you are in.  Self-immolation can be

such a means.

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If you do it out of love,

you act very much as Jesus did on the cross

and as Gandhi did in India.  Gandhi fasted,

not with anger, but with compassion,

not only toward his countrymen but also

toward the British.

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 These great men all

knew that it is the truth that sets us free,

and they did everything they could

to make the truth known.

Buddhist and Christian practice

is the same - the truth about ourselves,

the truth about our brothers and sisters,

the truth about our situation.

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This is the work of writers,

preachers, the media, and also

practicioners.  Each day we practice

looking deeply into ourselves and into

the situation of our brothers and sisters.

It is the most serious work we can do.

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From Living Buddha, Living Christ

by Thich Nhat Hanh

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BOGEY FOR BOZO

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In the middle of the night

I heard the sports commentator

(or whatever he was) on CNN say:

"America worships its athletes."

The ringing of a bell sounded in my

half-asleep brain. WORSHIPS?!?

Oh yes, this deal, the SPORTS hero.

Not to be confused with the pedophile

pop MUSIC hero we just finished with -

(well, there will actually be no foreseeable

end to the wormlike pieline of crap praising

Pedophile Land's creator, and most fervent,

and public, promoter).

But Jackson and Woods. Worshipped.
Yes, it's true. It's also incredibly stupid.
America's obsession with dimwitted morons
like Jackson/Woods, and puerile pastimes like

the sport (SPORT???) of golf,

("PUT IT IN THE HOLE, DUMMY!"),

as the country staggers toward bankruptcy,

and a billion worldwide go hungry,

isn't just pathetically immature,

and irresponsible, it's deadly.

False idols come in many forms.

They say the PGA tour and its sponsors

will lose a LOT of money here.

Good. It's better spent elsewhere.

Screw the PGA tour and its sponsors.

Are there sandtraps in hell?

Unknown, but there's plenty of

them here - in the form of fire hydrants,

sleezy porn stars, bad judgement,

the jackals in the media,

and ALL THAT DAMN CASH!!!!

FORE!!!!