Suspension of Disbelief

      I was trying desperately to think of some good news to write about.  Although I have a couple columns already written, and even though they’re completely accurate, they’re despondently depressing.  As I conducted a mental inventory of the countless current events in our 24-hour cable news-cycle, I was committed to trying to find some good news, but ultimately, it was to no avail.   Maybe this is what is meant by the maxim, “No news is good news.”

     For whatever reason, this quest to find some good news brought to my mind that 2007 quote from Hillary Clinton when she deliberately disrespected one of America’s most famous four-star generals.  To put it in complete context, here is an excerpt from the NY Sun: “Senator Clinton squared off yesterday with General David Petraeus, and came closer than any of her colleagues to calling the commander of the multinational forces in Iraq a liar. Using blunter language than any other Democrat in the last two days, Mrs. Clinton told General Petraeus that his progress report on Iraq required ‘a willing suspension of disbelief.’"

     In order to find some good news, I am going to pursue Hillary’s strategy. As Wikipedia explains, “Suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief is a term coined in 1817 by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who suggested that if a writer could infuse a ‘human interest and a semblance of truth’ into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative. Cognitive estrangement in fiction involves using a person's ignorance or lack of knowledge to promote suspension of disbelief.”

 
     Frankly, it is my belief that far too many Americans are engaged in cognitive estrangement all too often.  Whether it is mindless computer games or the endless distraction of countless cable channels pumping out inane reality shows, the fact is, many of our fellow citizens reside in a virtually unreal reality.   Uninformed and unashamed, they are simply not tethered to Terra Firma – but truth be told, just as with ignorance, it too may well be blissful.

     Could it be for some of us that entertainment cannot overcome the second law of thermodynamics?  What that law tells me is that entropy causes systems to move towards disorder and chaos.  Although endless entertainment can absorb one to the point of overlooking obvious evidence, it doesn’t suspend the unpleasant effects of that second law.  Although I am unwilling to risk diabetes of the mind from the intellect-killing candy that masquerades itself as entertainment, I am thankfully aware that there is lifesaving insulin available, a source of news outside the grasp of much of this entertainment-obsessed world.

     The Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, predicted the problem that presents itself now.  Jesus spelled it out for those willing to put down their play toys long enough to listen to Him, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places… and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

     For me, this loss of love is not news that could not be known. Jesus foretold it.  I believe it.  That settles it.  Jesus tells me not only to suspend my disbelief – He tells me to increase my belief.  So as I look around this tragically fallen world, the only good news I can find is the same that was delivered to some lowly shepherds some 2,000 years ago.   An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”  

     And so, if the loss of love is the sign of things to come, what did the Savior show us?  By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us.  And that He commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That is the only really good news I’m aware of.

This column also appeared in the 31 DEC  2014 Upson Beacon.