The Gospel of Journalism

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned..." - Romans 5:12 (ESV)

The idea of "federal headship" has become more real to me recently.

Rejection has been the most frequently inflicted pain since this quarter started. No, not the unrequited-love kind, but the interviewing kind.

I could probably go on for at least 29 paragraphs detailing all of the times I have asked people for an interview only to be rejected. I understand, for the most part. After all, time is precious and it's difficult to imagine many people whose pulses quicken at the thought of sharing their thoughts and being quoted by a journalism student. (I've found that tossing the word "graduate" in there doesn't do much good.)

Last Saturday, I was attempting to interview people at a local 7-Eleven. One lady rejected me and later told me, approximately, "Most people don't want to talk with you because of those people before you who twisted people's quotes around."

I nodded and understood. I had no rebuttal.

It's frustrating enough to be repeatedly rejected by people, but to know that it has just as much, if not more to do with the journalists who preceded me...that really broils my biscuits.

I am starting off at the bottom of the slope, right from the outset. I am guilty until proven innocent. It's left to me to build up and gain credibility, not to merely maintain it.

The sins of those before me have made me disreputable.

And I feel it when some people immediately turn their eyes away or cough when I utter the word "journalism."

So, what can be done about this?

1) Earn it: I can turn my back on the lengthy history of journalistic sins and try my damndest to redeem the whole profession myself, so to speak. I'd have to put blinders on and take care of my own credibility. I would have to try to build up a pristine record and maintain it until the day I die. It's virtually impossible, of course, but I could try. Still, this does nothing to deal with the root issue. It only gives me an empty motivation that does little to redeem the reputation of the profession, and sets a bar far too high for me to overcome.

2) Forgiveness: I could hope that all the heartstrings of every citizen in the world would somehow be pulled in the direction of forgiveness towards every single journalist who has thus far sullied the reputation of the profession. However, if this happened at 11:45:00 p.m. tonight, it's effect would be quashed at 11:45:01 p.m., when some journalist somewhere will have made another blunder, thus marring the profession anew. Again, this does not deal with the root problem.

3) Bliss: Ignore the problem altogether. All parties would try to turn a blind mind's eye to the matter and go on from there. This is probably the most cowardly of options, and does nothing to uproot the problem.

4) A flame deluge: The profession of journalism could be purged from society. Bad for a number of reasons, and I say that with the utmost objectivity. This is using a shotgun to kill a weed - the root remains.

There are countless other options, of course, but they all fall short.

Now, I could try to imagine a scenario where a perfect, reputable journalist would appear and take the blame for all of the profession's missteps - past, present and future. He would not only take the blame, but would claim to be the author of each mistake - past, present and future - and would take the consequences upon himself. He would assume the guise of every single faulty journalist - past, present and future - and would trade his spotless résumé for their blotted ones.

After he was prosecuted - harshly, I would imagine - the problem would have been properly resolved, the profession would be guiltless and interviews would come more easily for journalism students.

Those that would accept me as faultless would accept the solution, while those that would not accept me, in spite of the exchange, would, in effect, reject the solution. It would no longer reflect on me, but on the one who exchanged places with me.

Obviously, there are incredibly huge gaps between this scenario and the Gospel itself that make this illustration all but useless, but to think that this plot, in its essence, has actually played out in a much deeper, profound way, on a grander stage makes me pause, with gratitude.

And as I think about this, new roots begin to grow in me - further up and further in.

"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." - Romans 5:18-19

Alone

"You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created." - C.S. Lewis

Living alone has been mostly enjoyable so far. The pros have considerably outweighed the cons. It might have to do with the newness of it all, since I have never lived alone before, but still, it is pleasing to me.

I get to bask in my introvertedness for most of my evenings, and I like that.

I've heard people say they want to live alone because they desire to be away from people that annoy them at home.

While I am not one of those people, I have found that the appeal of being away from the annoyance of other people is a fleeting, if not false benefit of living by yourself.

I can only speak for myself, but I have found that the more I am alone, the more I annoys me. Terrible grammar, I know, but it's the best way I know how to say it.

Especially as a student who is constantly being humbled and challenged, there are many sober realizations as I look into that proverbial mirror, which has become ubiquitous somehow.

I constantly wonder - after more than 26 years of living, is this all I have become? Is this the furthest point I've reached so far in my life? Mentally, physically, spiritually, is this the zenith of my existence-to-date? Is this the return on all the investments poured into me?

Immediate sadness, regret and resignation imbues my heart, and at once I become irritated with me.

I realize that no matter where I am, no matter who I am with or not with, I am my own permanent roommate. I cannot get rid of me or leave me and instead choose another me.

Still, I begrudgingly count this as a benefit to living alone.

Because in this isolated condition, each passing minute feels more measured, deliberate and meaningful as I become familiar with what is approaching.

I cannot help but to bear with me, and I am led to believe that God also cannot help but to bear with me in the same manner, though he is glad to.

Just as I am alone with me, God, unbounded by time and place, is alone with me, every second of my miserable being.

The difference, I am trying to understand, is while I am unhappy to be stuck with myself, God is infinitely happy to have me as his - not because of who I appear to be in my own eyes, but because of who I actually am in his.

The rest of my years will be mostly the same - I will continue to be disappointed with who I am, and he will continue to be pleased with who I am becoming and have already become.

My joy is knowing that his pleasure will eventually meet with my discouragement - and his sentiment will win and overcome mine, and will even become mine.

It will be a delight like none other I have ever known, because it will, for the first time, be absent of me. That joy will finally be one that is perfectly calibrated and wonderfully aimed.

The struggle to embrace this thought allows me to dig further underneath what I see and to hold my head a bit higher as I tolerate me, alone.

"This is not a perfect illustration, of course. But it may give just a glimpse of what I believe to be the truth. God is not hurried along in the Time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the imaginary time of his own novel. He has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world." - C.S. Lewis

"They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory." - C.S. Lewis

The Grand Pumpkin

If you want to have your entire belief system and deepest convictions challenged, watch the clip below.