In my work as a journalist some years ago, it was clear that the top news stories were generally stuff that horrified you or made you depressed. Some would say that not much has changed.
It’s the default, isn’t it? Bad news sells, and crazy is good for business. And as the years go on, we become more immune to it all, like an antibiotic for the Christian faith to cope with it all, as Timothy Keller puts it.
So what’s the solution?
Billy Corgan – lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins – articulates it in the video above. This is what he said in an interview on CNN Talk Asia:
“There’s a long established concept that gets bandied about, which is ‘Misery makes for great art’. You’re basically saying, ‘Suffering’s good for business’. And I don’t think suffering’s good for business. Crazy’s good for business, suffering isn’t. I think that [subject] lasts for about two or three albums. At some point, you have to mature into the deeper work.”
The interviewer then asks: “So what are you exploring now?”
Corgan answers: “God… I think that God is the great, unexplored territory in rock and roll music.”
I’m intrigued by this, even though the interview is quite old. For myself, I’ve been exploring aspects of this throughout my life.
I wonder about the way forward. My instinct says that the solution will be found in authentic stories from people who are open and willing enough to share their questions and discoveries about who God is. Personal stuff, in other words, shared from stages around the world.
I’ve maintained that if there’s a disproportionate amount of junk flooding the airwaves, TV screens and media billboards… then there has to an equal, or surplus amount of God-stuff to counter it. Stuff that makes you think, contemplate, take a moment… and utter a quiet “wow!” on the inside.
I’m interested in these stories. It preoccupies my songwriting and my thoughts going forward.
And I’m interested in my own evolving story as I think about God, the entertainment industry and the world looks like after a global pandemic.
