News — A double-edged sword

I am pleased to share a prayer from Irwin Keller, Rabbi, Teacher, writer, hope-monger. Rabbi Keller knows well how the news is a double-edged sword; it informs us about what is happening locally, nationally, and globally; likewise it often upsets us often to the point of despair. Whether we learn of events in the Middle East, in Gaza, in Ukraine, at home in Canada or in so many countries around the world, we see violence and mean-spirited actors in positions of influence everywhere. To search for news these days is troubling for the mind and risky for the heart. Rabbi  Keller writes:

“For a while now I have found reading the morning paper to be a risky moment. Sometimes there is something lovely that gives me hope for humanity . . . But every day there is something upsetting, saddening happening in the world . . . I find myself not infrequently afraid to open the morning news. I am aware that I have the privilege of not reading the paper and going about having by most accounts a good day. But I don’t want to be so frightened of how upset the news will make me that I stay uninformed and close myself off to the witnessing, compassion, and action that I feel this moment requires of me and of us.”

So what should we do? I want to know what’s going on and I suspect you are likewise curious about the lives of others through stories of truth enacted and falsehood embodied. So we must risk exposure to uncertain times and unpleasant circumstances, times where many are injured physically, economically, emotionally. Rabbi Keller inspires those of us who identify as persons of faith to surround our enquiry with prayer, not prayer seeking resolution alone though that would be lovely, but prayer which reminds us of a holy spirit within us, a sustaining and protective spirit, a person or force which will sustain us in faith and just advocacy. Here is one of his prayers called “Before reading the news” Elohai neshamah shenatata bi tehorah hi.

My God,
the soul you have placed in me
is pure and vulnerable.
I am afraid that looking at today’s news
 will be painful.
Encircle me in a robe of light
so that I can witness the wounds of the world
without being wounded myself.
Let me learn what I need to know
in order to be of my greatest use,
without being overwhelmed by despair.
I feel your protective light now
as I open myself
to the world’s suffering
and the world’s joys.