It is officially the Christmas season – several of my neighbors have put out their Christmas lights! Some may argue that I can’t officially use the word official, and that it is still too early to be singing The First Noel and buying wrapping paper. But I prod you not to be a scrooge… it’s actually good for you to embrace the joy of this season. It’s called a “slow-burning emotion.” According to CNN the University of Southern California completed a study this past year that found that “rapid-fire TV news bulletins or getting updates via social-networking tools such as Twitter could numb our sense of morality and make us indifferent to human suffering.” “If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions…” said researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. Their conclusion was that when our moral perspective is deluded by the multifarious and insistent supply of news, will ruin a society. In turn the researchers discovered the cogent importance of decelerating the news flow and building slow-burning emotions, most of which will be positive such as admiration. Well if that is what would be good for our moral compass, then it becomes very clear why the brilliantly dark mind of the devil would turn on the facet of news. So start your Christmas early, and be late in ending it. Let Christmas be a slow-burning season, a season of good news, the best news.
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. (Luke 2:10)
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