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TV Shows Need Warning Labels…Oh Wait They Do…

I am totally all for free speech, but some TV shows need to put a better list of the content of the programs somewhere.  Oh wait, that’s called “TV Guide Magazine” or the Info button on my tv remote.  I just failed to use either today.

I think I’m a little bit more sensitive to what I watch on TV, since I’ve stopped watching all the different the Law and Order and CSI series last spring.  (They come on later at night here in the East Coast and I was getting nightmares, so I stopped watching them altogether and my sleep has been much better, thank you.)  So I basically watch the news (local, national and my favorite, BBC America, which has the best news, I think) sports (duh, if you’ve read any of my postings on this blog, you’d know my views on New England sports ) and I will admit that I tape my soap opera every day to watch when I have time.  (I’ve been watching the same soap- “As The World Turns” since I was a tiny speck in my mommy’s tummy.  I call myself an “in-utero soap addict” HA )

Ok back on track, I was watching the show “Ghost Whisperer” tonight and the episode dealt with an American serviceman coming home from Iraq and having the spirits of his dead unit buddies “haunting” him.  I totally lost it.  I was crying and weeping that snotty kind of tears, thinking about my brother Ben still being in Iraq (“still”, he hasn’t even been there a month!)  About what kinds of horrors Ben is going to see and how this experience is going to change him.  I was praying that Ben comes home safely to his friends, family, his parents, his siblings, his girlfriend Lindsey and especially that Ben comes home to his little girl Hailey.  I pray that all our service men and women come home safely.

I think I need to be far more careful in what I watch.  I’m really good at deciding what kinds of movies I watch and what kinds of music I listen to.  I realize that I am a mentor to some kids who really do look up to me and I realize that the decisions that I make can affect the kids, so I try and make good decisions.  (I quit swearing about 7 years ago as part of Lent, because I realized that swearing was taking the Lord’s name in vain.)  So for my own good, I think TV comes next.  Does anyone know if “Wheel of Fortune” can cause any bad side effects?

I leave you tonight with a nice prayer for those in need of comfort:

Make Me Brave for Life

God, make me brave for life: oh, braver than this.
Let me straighten after pain, as a tree straightens after the rain,
Shining and lovely again.
God, make me brave for life; much braver than this.
As the blown grass lifts, let me rise
From sorrow with quiet eyes,
Knowing Thy way is wise.
God, make me brave, life brings
Such blinding things.
Help me to keep my sight;
Help me to see aright
That out of dark comes light.

Author Unknown

Today Ben has been deployed for 25 days.

Thinking about faith

After taking that “Belief-O-Matic” quiz, I’ve been thinking about putting labels on things, like someone’s faith (meaning “I am a Lutheran” or “I am a Christian”) and how labels really don’t serve a purpose all the time.  After some of my training (especially on racism) I’ve come to realize that it is really important to look beyond a label, or beyond appearance to find the person behind.