Sobering thoughts
I usually try to keep my posts non-political, out of respect for the diversity of opinion that exists among those I love. It may seem that this is a deviation from that, but bear with me.
Michael Crichton is an author with several bestsellers. Most of you have seen some product of his; the movie Jurassic Park if nothing else. There are several other author's writings I enjoy far more than his, and I object to some content he includes. Consequently I do not seek out his books and read them, but I did read State of Fear. At the end of the book I found an essay on the premise of the book which I found intriguing - and better than the book. So I stopped to read another essay/speech of his when I came across it. Although the second essay focuses on almost the same topic as the first, its impact on me has been greater. I found a couple quotes that I like and have thought about a bit:
“…[T]here is nothing more sobering than a 30 year old newspaper. You can't figure out what the headlines mean. You don't know who the people are… You thumb through page after page of vanished concerns — issues that apparently were vitally important at the time, and now don't matter at all. It's amazing how many pressing concerns are literally of the moment. They won't matter in six months, and certainly not in six years. And if they won't matter then, are they really worth our attention now?”
Michael Crichton
"I've seen a heap of trouble in my life, and most of it never came to pass."
Mark Twain
I've been looking (casually) for 30 year old newspapers since I read the essay. The concept that most of the 'some new[s] thing' reporting is of no lasting value is very scriptural. At first I thought about pressing political issues of our day and considered that surely these must be of greater import. But the more I consider it, the less important even those seem. (Alma the Elder had far greater political problems than our country has seen in living memory.)
So these quotes have helped me to focus more thought and action on things that are of lasting value rather than on the things of the moment. And that is important regardless of the politics that the quote sprouted from.
Michael Crichton is an author with several bestsellers. Most of you have seen some product of his; the movie Jurassic Park if nothing else. There are several other author's writings I enjoy far more than his, and I object to some content he includes. Consequently I do not seek out his books and read them, but I did read State of Fear. At the end of the book I found an essay on the premise of the book which I found intriguing - and better than the book. So I stopped to read another essay/speech of his when I came across it. Although the second essay focuses on almost the same topic as the first, its impact on me has been greater. I found a couple quotes that I like and have thought about a bit:
“…[T]here is nothing more sobering than a 30 year old newspaper. You can't figure out what the headlines mean. You don't know who the people are… You thumb through page after page of vanished concerns — issues that apparently were vitally important at the time, and now don't matter at all. It's amazing how many pressing concerns are literally of the moment. They won't matter in six months, and certainly not in six years. And if they won't matter then, are they really worth our attention now?”
Michael Crichton
"I've seen a heap of trouble in my life, and most of it never came to pass."
Mark Twain
I've been looking (casually) for 30 year old newspapers since I read the essay. The concept that most of the 'some new[s] thing' reporting is of no lasting value is very scriptural. At first I thought about pressing political issues of our day and considered that surely these must be of greater import. But the more I consider it, the less important even those seem. (Alma the Elder had far greater political problems than our country has seen in living memory.)
So these quotes have helped me to focus more thought and action on things that are of lasting value rather than on the things of the moment. And that is important regardless of the politics that the quote sprouted from.
posted by Harvey at 11:25 PM
4 Comments:
Too bad that when we moved from NY to AR the movers threw away my stack of newspapers I saved for each of you from the day of your birth. So I'm no help there. One thing we don't now save 30 years is newspapers. (Although if you checked in the garage there could be a few 30 year old Ceramic Society magazines or other tidbits.) Thanks for the blog. It has given me a better perspective, as well, since now days I listen to probably too much news I've also been studying up on the Second coming, and have focused on the "great" part rather than the "dreadful" part and found that there is a lot of hope and other good things discussed in those scriptures. Love you, Mom
I like this. Maybe because I too often tend to shrug off political issues. And now I feel some justification. I could not have articulated it so eloquently, but those quotes really hit on why. When I think about the eternal picture, these things don't seem to matter much.
Thanks for sharing these quotes. Especially in my little hamlet where (unfortunately) local politics have become quite nasty, it's a great reminder that some of these things people are bickering over are NOT IMPORTANT today tomorrow, NEVER!
Thank you!
B
I have had some mentors in the past few years advise not to watch the news and have often followed that. I have found that the really important things I usually end up hearing about anyway. And then I avoid a great deal of negativity.
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