Breaking the Smokescreen: Seeing the World Beyond Fear and Distraction...

I’ve come to realize that the world we’re shown every day is nothing more than a smokescreen. Beneath the chaos and fear, beneath the endless cycle of headlines meant to enrage or terrify, there is something deeper. Something real. Love. Compassion. People who care.

As Mister Rogers once said, “When I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me: ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” And he was right. The helpers are still here, working tirelessly in the background, often unnoticed, often overshadowed by the latest catastrophe vying for our attention.

And yet, we are constantly bombarded with images of war, financial crises, mass shootings—unrelenting chaos. The narrative is clear: be afraid, stay afraid, don’t look away. Yes, people are dying. Yes, many live in terror. But have we stopped to ask ourselves how this connects to our obsession with media, with horror films, with adrenaline-pumping entertainment that mimics the very nightmares we claim to fear?

We flood our bodies with anxiety for two hours, then walk out of a theater saying, “Glad I didn’t have to experience that.” But the truth is, we do. Maybe not in the exact way the film portrayed, but on a deeper level, we live it. We breathe it in, we internalize it, we carry the weight of a world that feeds on fear. And worst of all? We’ve become numb to it.

There are over 340 million people in this country, and instead of facing our collective challenges, we’re drowning in distraction. Entertainment. Shopping. Alcohol. Drugs. Anything to numb the discomfort of existence. Anything to keep from truly seeing the suffering in front of us.

We turn away from the homeless, pretending not to see. The lost are locked away in institutions. The poor are incarcerated, hidden from view so we don’t have to acknowledge them. Out of sight, out of mind.

Meanwhile, we make stupid people famous. Why? So, we can feel better about ourselves without actually changing anything. I’ve played into it, too. But if I have to see one more headline about the Kardashians, I might just flee this planet.

I’m not a religious fanatic, but let’s call it what it is. We’ve built idols and named them brands. We worship corporate giants. We praise social media influencers as if they hold the keys to enlightenment.

Anyone remember The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston? That moment when the people, left to their own devices, melted down gold to create an idol? Tell me we aren’t doing the exact same thing. We dance around the golden calf of consumerism, hypnotized by wealth and status, all while claiming to be a nation of faith.

Even Kevin Smith’s movie Dogma called this out, using Mooby’s—the corporate fast-food giant—as a symbol of modern idol worship. And yet, here we are, feeding the machine.

Christ commanded love, service, and humility. But instead, we judge. We scroll past suffering and shake our heads. We tithe on Sunday and ignore the hungry on Monday. We have the audacity to call this progress?

But here’s the truth no one talks about: despite everything, much of the world is actually at peace. Not everything is burning. Not everyone is lost. Love still exists in abundance.

Do you witness the gentleness unfolding around you every day? The kindness of a stranger? The quiet strength of those who refuse to give up? Or are you too distracted to see it?

We stand at a precipice. We can either slide off the cliff—driven by fear, ego, and willful blindness—or we can take a collective breath, slow down, and see each other as we truly are. Innocent. Worthy. Human beings.

I won’t pretend—I’m not scared for us. But I also know one thing: I am the one I’ve been waiting for.

And so are you...