In the Bible, Moses gets angry—a lot. When he sees an Egyptian taskmaster beat an Israelite slave, he gets angry.
When the Israelites complain about the bitter water they drink in wilderness, he gets angry. When he sees them dancing around the golden calf, he smashes the two tablets in anger.
This was righteous anger. But sometimes the news today seems to foment anger simply for the sake of ratings. Every story tries to make us upset.
Well, a recent story accidentally bucked the trend. A reporter for National Public Radio posted on the news station's Facebook page
"Ramona is given a new toy: Smiles, examines for 20 seconds, discards.
Ramona gets a hug: Acquiesces momentarily, squirms to be put down.
Ramona sees three cats 30 feet away: Immediately possessed by shrieking, spasmodic joy that continues after cats flee for their lives."
About twelve minutes later, the reporter posted a retraction, writing, "Edit: This post was intended for a personal account. We apologize for the error."
But it was too late. The cat was out of the bag.
Ramona he cat had stolen the public's imagination. More than 87,000 people liked the post, and people asked for more stories about Ramona.
In accidentally bring us some laugh, this reporter also uncovered a missing piece of our news today: happiness. We need more stories of uplift. We need reminders of joy in life.
We can find that joy in sacred relationships. We can find it in books. And we can find it with God.
May we also see more of it in the news in the weeks ahead.
Rabbi Evan Moffic
Rabbi Evan Moffic
Congregation Solel
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