Less worry, more action please

    We need to be mindful of world events, but there are several comparisons that can be made between events such as the war in Iran and events of a generation or two ago.
The Iran war, and its associated battles in the Middle East, have been going on for thousands of years. To our way of thinking, the middle eastern countries are very tribal and there are many tribes even within one country. The middle east wars seem to be about the usual issues of land and resources but, in contrast to many other wars, they have a strong cultural and, dare I say, religious bent to them as well. 
    Western wars seem to be more about resources compared to the middle east where the religious influences appear to be  prominent. 
    There is also the factor of instant news coverage. In the wars of the 20th century, news from the battle front was days old before the people “back home” knew what was going on. Now, the cell phone and the internet shows the horror, destruction and death almost instantaneously. It’s mesmerizing.
    As has always been, war is very hard on families of the victims, the wounded and the displaced. However, with today’s instant viewing technology, the trauma, the anxiety and the fear that’s generated brings war right into our homes and workplaces.
    One of my co-workers says that the worst thing that has happened to the news world is the 24 hour news channels. War events and destruction are played and replayed for days so the not only is there the original shock, the trauma is reinforced for days. The 24 hours news channels’ have to fill the air time, and so repetition seems to be the way to fill the channel’s programs. Personally, I can’t watch more than a few minutes of that kind of news at a time. The news announcers and commentators are just too annoying.
    It may seem crass, but there is little we can do about wars in other lands. We are traumatized yes, and gas prices are very high. Food prices are being affected even more than what has become normal. I was reminded, while watching snippets of the Oscars Sunday night, we can do one thing. One Oscar winner opened his thank-you speech by saying “God is good”. That’s true and there is one more thing we can do and that is pray. It may well be the best thing we can do.
    And while the war in Iran has been centuries in the making and now weeks in the bombing and killing, we need to look closer to home. We can be kind to ourselves, our families, our neighbours and fellow Canadians. 
    We should also remember that we need to be aware of local, provincial and national situations. We have elections coming at all levels. We will have local elections scheduled to happen this fall with others to follow.
    We need to stay informed about what we as local residents, Manitobans and Canadians can and should do. Yes, we can care and we can pray. But we also need to be involved. Not many of us are prepared to run for office, but we have an obligation to get involved, encourage others and work for the electing of officials at all levels. And yes, don’t forget school board elections as well.
    If we spent (or perhaps I should just say, if I spent) as much time preparing for our future as we (or I) do watching TV and the internet, we might all be better off. 
If anybody says, there’s nothing we can do, they are wrong. We can pray, get involved and take action.

    Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the Banner & Press staff.