The Fear Factor

BHP, Vitamin D,

Swine flu, sunlight, salt,

The disease of the week, It’s making me weak,

This nervous breakdown’s not my fault

Crazy mad cow, Asian flu

Acetimenophene,

Killer bees and Lymes disease

And trans fat in our ice cream.

The markets are down, Unemployment is up

And General Motors is broke,

Housing has tanked and savings are lost

It’s enough to make me smoke.

If you’re like me and you’re sick of fear

And the news just makes you tired

I’ve got just the thing, to make you relax

And it goes by Love Inspired.

The people are real, their problems are too,

But they trust in God’s providing,

And when it’s over, and the last page is turned

You’ll know it’s a happy ending.

Now you know why I stick to fiction and have stayed away from poetry. However, I feel the sentiments of the poem are real. We live on a continent that gives us tremendous freedom and the best lifestyle of anyone on earth and we are constantly looking over our shoulder to see what is going to come and take all this away from us. And I’m a bit tired of the fear that newspapers seem to gleefully generate.

Yesterday we celebrated Canada Day, on Saturday Americans will celebrate Fourth of July. Both holidays remind us of what we are blessed with. I pray that we can learn to see the good things we have instead of being so afraid of what we are going to read next in the newspapers.