Yesterday Pope Benedict addressed participants in the World Press Congress. His reflections got me thinking about the role of the media, especially in the light of the issues that hijacked the headlines this week in New Zealand.
Pope Benedict concludes his comments to the representatives of the Catholic press by inviting these men and women not to be "a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1).
For much of this week random percussion has made it impossible to hear any hint of melody in media reports. There is no harmony. What has caused this clamour? Who is responsible?
It is easy to blame Paul Henry. His comments got us all thinking about what a "New Zealander" looks like and sounds like. The loudest voices now accuse him of racism and call for his head. But perhaps we are using him as a scape-goat for the views that are all too common in our neighbourhoods and households? While we call him a racist, we don't have to admit that racist attitudes and fear surround us and live within us.
We saw this in the days leading up to the opening of the Delhi Commonwealth Games. Every news report in the days before the opening ceremony, sought to convince us that India was not ready. This country was about to let the Commonwealth down.
But then the NZ athletes arrived and found that the accommodation was comfortable and clean - except for paw prints across one down duvet.
Then our attack turned to the stadium and the opening ceremony. By now we were convinced it would be a disaster. But once again the Indians produced a dignified and flawless event in a spectacular arena and our gladitorial hungers were left unsated.
Where will we find our daily dose of disaster now? The netball umpires uniforms have not arrived. But once again, everything is ready in time.
This negative flow of misinformation continued: The athletic track has been damaged. Spectators are not filling the venues...
Only in the last couple of days have we finally given up trying to humiliate this great nation. Only now that these dignified people have proven that they are well up to the task of hosting this great event, does our racism creep back into hiding, that is until we hear that the next Governor General might not be "one of us".
But the real problem is not with the media. The issue is that the people of New Zealand call for a noisy-gong-clashing-cymbal style of journalism, reporting and interviewing. The media companies will naturally give us what we demand since they are running a business and need readers, listeners and viewers.
Let us be honest: we are both satisfied and entertained when media personalities play the role of the Shakespearian clown and speak the truth to the king. Then once the clown has spoken aloud our unpleasant truth, we fear that we ourselves will be 'found out'. The only safe retreat is to attack the clown and call for his head.
And the real issue remains. The melody of divine life is lost in the midst of the noise. While we must name the injustice and abuse we see around us, the real place of transformation is within the human heart. Like the lepers hunbly before Jesus we all stand in need of healing and purification. How easily we forget that it was the Samaritan foreigner who embraced the divine life and returned to Jesus.
Perhaps the clamour of the media week might help us to see our own need for healing of racist attitudes and behaviour.
Let us turn to God aware of our need, and confident that He will restore us to the fulness of the divine image.
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