I need a light

I’M GETTING WEARY of all the bleak around me.

I heard an interview a few days ago with Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the new movie Star Trek Into Darkness. The gent interviewing him made the observation that this was a dark movie. Quinto answered by saying these are dark times.

That got me to thinking about popular television shows I’ve seen lately.

Certainly we’ve got some funny shows left, like The Big Bang Theory and perhaps How I Met Your Mother – though at this point in the series I no longer care how he met the mother. He should have met her two seasons ago.

I’ve also seen:

• The Walking Dead, an end-of-times, survivalist sort of a show.

• Revolution, an end-of-times/survivalist sort of a show.

• Defiance, a new end-of-times/survivalist sort of a show.

And then, of course, there are the reality shows playing all around us:

• Congress, on a mission to make our nation a better place to live. Their advice: buy a gun. Yippy kiay.

• College graduates, on a mission to find a job. Some folks are actually calling them Generation R – the R is for Recession.

In all feels too gloomy.

Where are the hopeful politicians telling us that the only thing we really need to fear is fear itself?

Where are the human endeavors that stretch our minds, our imagination, and our will to do great things?

Where are the shows that point us to an inspiring and hopeful future?

I don’t know how much we as Christians can do about any of this.

But I do know that the Bible says God put us in this dark world to brighten things up.

“You are light for the world….No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand. Then its light shines on everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine in front of people. Then they will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16, GWT).

We can’t do everything that needs to be done to brighten up our world.

But doggone it, we can do something.