Things That Matter are Rarely Easy...

When we choose to devote our attention to one topic, we inevitably leave less time and energy for others.

This reality hit us hard this past week, when so much of America’s attention turned to the Royal Wedding.

Some friends had wedding viewing parties, complete with dainty finger-foods and smiling guests wearing elaborate hats and gloves. Others spent a great deal of time and energy speculating on what the bride’s dress might look like, what the queen would wear, or where the darling couple might go for their honeymoon.

And there is nothing wrong with any of these activities, in and of themselves.

But consider this:

American news outlets devoted dramatically more hours to the royal wedding than the media did in Europe, including England.

And what was going on in the U.S. last week, as so much of America’s attention was devoted to the royal wedding?

One of the biggest – and most heartbreaking – stories of the week was the devastation caused by a series of tornados that pounded the Southeast, causing death and chaos in cities and towns in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and beyond.

Residents in the town of Smithville, Mississippi, expressed frustration over the focus on the royal wedding, when their town had been completely annihilated, and their high school destroyed. There was a sense that their plight could not fully get traction in the national media, because so much attention was being paid to the far lighter, more pleasant story of the royal wedding.

America is at a pivotal point in history. We are grappling as a nation with big questions and serious issues. The middle class is eroding, public school teachers are continuing to see their jobs slashed, gas and food prices are rising, and the national deficit has reached staggering proportions.

These are difficult issues. The answers are not simple, in part because systemic thinking and dramatic reform is needed. But we as a people cannot allow ourselves to simply be the entertained masses, content to focus on the fashion of a wedding that has nothing to do with us, our futures, or our children’s futures.

We need to have real conversations, about real issues – even if those conversations are difficult and force us to think and talk in ways that are challenging. It won’t be as easy and painless as talking about a princess’ wedding dress or a queen’s public image, but things that matter are rarely easy.