Repent, and believe the good news…

So, this morning I was wondering just what is this “good news” that seems to be so important for Jesus? I know it has something to do with loving, being loved, being lovable… but it’s really hard to think that this “good news” is present when I think of the images I saw on last night’s “News Report.” The news being sent into my home was about deaths of so many innocent ones in Syria and elsewhere, fires that rob people of homes, young people killing each other, pending dangers of all kinds. Sure is a lot of not-loving going on! So, where is this good news that is supposed to trump everything?

No wonder he says it takes “repentance” to be able to believe it. Heck, I need repentance– turning aside, changing, some kind of being sorry that any of us cling to the bad news, trying a new way of thinking—just to even begin to believe there is enough good news to offset the bad news.

Then I got an email about a death. Someone I care about had lost a family member with whom he had had a “less-than-perfect” relationship. How to feel about such a death? Strangely, it was good news. Yes, the grief is already complicated, but because my friend has a God-relationship, this death will mix a lot of good news into the whole experience. And, in the end, after a bit of prayer and waiting and noticing as much as he can, my friend will believe the good news at even more levels than he does now.

And that helps me to believe.