The Remote - worship fully?

You pick up the remote. An image appears on the screen. What to do next? Surf! See what piques your curiosity, or search out that hip drama everybody is watching, or ... Maybe Springsteen needs to remake "57 Channels (and Nothin' On)" - maybe "1,057 Channels (and Nothin' On)"?

But something is on. Some of it is tawdry, or just sophomoric. The remote has an off button. But TV isn't bad: good dramas can help us understand ourselves, the dreams, aches, kookiness and wonder that we are - and our need for hope. If Sheldon (in Big Bang Theory) makes me laugh, I thank God, who decided life would be richer if God devised something like a sense of humor. Jesus was no sourpuss.

Watch the news - and don't let the devil make you believe the networks are so biased you can't get the facts. Pay attention: there's tension in the Middle East, hunger in Africa, turmoil in Europe. God's heart is broken every day in farflung places. If you think like Jesus you'll care and hurt too.

Finally there's great preaching on TV - but not from the clergy. Tune in those nature shows that show you the secret haunts of jackals or the nests of eagles, or a nebula in deep space, or the echolocation of bats. Let your jaw drop, and be awestruck by God.

Pick up the remote (or put it down). Worship fully.