I'm so LOST

Last night I did something I rarely do. I watched TV. Usually my evenings are full enough that I don't have time for this sort of activity. If I don't have something going on, I usually try to get a good 5 or 6 mile run in the evenings. However, I lost my mp3 player last Saturday and the thought of running 114 laps at the Y without music of some kind makes me shudder. So I wimped out last night and skipped the run. (As a sidenote, my new mp3 player arrived today, so no more excuses.) Anyway...so I watched TV. The big premiere episode of LOST was on (as the faithful few are fully aware). I confess that this is a show that I got sucked into during its first or second season. I mean, who could resist the intrigue of the smoke monster...Jack...the hatch...Jack...the button...Jack? Really. However, after the first couple of seasons I realized that I needed to get on with my life and quit waiting for these poor people to get off the island. So I left them stranded somewhere between pushing a little red button and Charlie's "death". I've successfully resisted the temptation to get sucked into watching this show again, but last night with nothing much to do, I watched the premiere episode. Still, I'm as LOST as ever, but one thing in the episode caught my attention and stayed with me. Hurley is trying to explain to his mother what really happened on the island and the truth about the murders he is now suspected of committing and she says to him, "I believe you. I don't understand you, but I believe you. I don't think you murdered those people, but the news believes you did. And if the news believes it, everyone believes it." Hmmm...this gave me food for thought. The media really DOES shape a lot of what the masses believe about the events and people of today. It's the power of the press. I believe it was Adolf Hitler who effectively (and horribly) used the power of the press for propaganda that said that it is fortunate for leaders that men do not think. Evil men have the greatest influence on minds that do not attempt to know the truth. As Christians, I believe we have a responsibility to use our heads. I think it's what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 4:14, "...we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming...." Earlier in this passage, Paul implores the Christians "to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called...." Is it possible that using our heads and seeking out the truth is one of the ways that we fulfill our calling as Christians? Hmmm. May be worth thinking about.