Finding good in bad news

Periodically, we're asked why The Compass prints bad news. Just stick with the good news, we're told.

There are several problems with that counsel. First, one person's good news is often bad news for another. For example, since a single case of mad cow disease was diagnosed in Canada earlier this year, the price of American beef has risen rapidly. Good news for American farmers, but bad for their Canadian counterparts and American consumers. Or consider reports of sexual abuse by priests - certainly bad news, considering the pain and shame it's caused, but also good news in that a problem is being addressed.

The sexual abuse issue also points out a danger of not printing bad news: Ignoring a problem is not the same as solving it.

We can also look to the Bible. It certainly has its share of bad news, for example the fall and Cain killing Abel - and that's in just the first four chapters of Genesis. And the Gospels (the word itself comes from the old English word godspel, meaning "good news") abound with reports of bad news: the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, the murder of John the Baptist, apostles bickering over who's the most important, the betrayal by Judas, the denial of Peter and the crucifixion of Jesus.

These are not happy, feel-good stories. But, as Christians, we believe God can bring good out of bad. Indeed, we believe that resurrection and new life come from the worst things, if we accept the grace of God, as Jesus and Peter did.

God seems to work best with the least. For example, when God created Adam, the Bible tells us, he did not use gold or silver, or even rich fertile loam, but sticky, yucky clay. That's why creating is defined as making something out of nothing.

News is truly bad only if we let it stay that way. Otherwise, it's an opportunity to improve, a chance to invite God to help us make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Now that's good news.