A Broken World?

A Broken World. Really? Yesterday I heard two different people refer to “our broken world.” One of the speakers, I think, was referring to our world from a Christian viewpoint: this is a broken world because we are sinners, and cannot match the perfection of God. And I understand that view. Because yes, we are all sinners. And yes, we are many times poor excuses for good people.

But the other speaker seemed to have a different meaning. I think he meant this is a broken world, because we have really just gone off the rails, and what used to be a wonderful world is now a complete mess. And it occurred to me, I don’t agree with it.

I know it’s popular to characterize our world as broken. It’s a mess, filled with evil people. It’s not like it used to be when we had law and order. Our country is lost, the world is in shambles, and compared to some time ago, there is so much less respect, integrity, character, and decency. The world has basically degenerated, and we need somebody to take it all by the reins, punish the bad guys, and make it all better.

You know, I’m not normally known as an optimist, but I am in this respect. Is the world really broken? I don’t buy it. I know sometimes it seems bad. Yes, we have lots of murders and terrorist attacks, but they don't compare to the loss of life in the huge wars we've had in the past. The economy isn’t great, but it’s a lot better than it was a few years ago. We have race problems, to be sure, but as bad as it seems sometimes, in comparison to the 1950’s, I think we’re improving. Of course, a complete discussion of this would take volumes, but that’s for another time.

But last night I saw an episode of “The West WIng.” (Season 4, Episode 2 for those who watch.) And in it, there had been a bombing of a college swim team. Forty-four students were killed. I know this is a TV show, a fictional story about a fictional president. But I couldn’t help but be struck by how this fictional president handled this tragedy. This fictional president lifted everyone up, made us optimistic, gave us hope, while still facing the problem. I think our current actual president does his best to do that as well, with varying degrees of success. But sometimes, people just want to fill us all with fear, despair, and anger, trying to divide us and pit one group against another.

But I’m just really tired of hearing it, and reading it. In person, on bumper stickers. On Facebook. Online. Everywhere. Apparently, lots of people want to spread this idea. And oddly, just as many want to hear it. They want to fear. They want to think the world is horrible. They want to think it’s all so bad.

But you know, they can go ahead and think the world is broken. And feel depressed and angry. It’s their life, and it’s their right. But as for me, I’ll look at the world through what I feel are honest eyes, and see that no, the world isn’t perfect, but we’ve made a lot of progress in making it better. And if we work together rather than against each other, if we lift each other up rather than tear each other down, we can make it better still.  I say that because I’m really, really tired of the negativity and pessimism I see everyday in every kind of media. But I also say it because it’s truth.

Call me an optimist or a fool, take your pick. But maybe I’m just a realist.