Intellectual suffering

"All things are full of weariness" (Ecclesiastes 1:8).

This is true of nothing so much as monitoring the news for a living. I do not do that for my bread and butter, but have come to appreciate those who do.

Many good people opt out of following the news:

The only reason I'm not sick of all the stuff about _____ is that I don't read it. I never read the papers. Why does anyone? They're nearly all lies, and one has to wade thru' such reams of verbiage and 'write up' to find out even what they're saying. (C.S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady)

There are different kinds of suffering in the present life. We tend to think of the physical and emotional varieties, but there is also intellectual suffering. This stands to reason because the Fall taints every sphere. The good news is that the Redemption of Christ begins reversals of the Fall in every sphere as well.

We are told that Lot was a righteous man who lived in a vile city and "day after day he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard" (2 Peter 2:8, ESV). We think of the sex, but maybe it was also the intellectual spin.

I know this: Paul said, "In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Colossians 1:24). Every Christian should do that, according to his particular gift --- those with intellectual gifts, intellectually.

When seen from this perspective, Christian news junkies, reporters, and journalists are not the modern Sisyphus rolling rocks endlessly up a mountain to no purpose. They do it as a service for the Church, and Christ gives it meaning.