I remember the sentence from English class, Primary School: “No news is good news.” The point made was that it was singular. News is a plural word that takes singular. But there is also a point made about the meaning of the sentence. If you don’t hear any news you should think that everything is alright.

I know this has been tried as comfort or encouragement for many that has been worried sick; If you don’t hear news you can trust everything is going to be fine.

A few days ago I spoke with a young man asking him if he had had a nice summer vacation; “No, not really. It hasn’t been good. I lost my father.” Over the phone he started to tell me about his father. I have just met the guy through some work he has done and don’t really know him. Still he shared with me about the sickness of his father, how they had to deal with the sudden death this summer and the grief. A couple of days later I met him in person. He shared a bit more, and then he told me that he had become an uncle for the first time just a few days ago. He expressed wonder on how life could hold both deep grief and great joy in such a short period of time.

Life is a mix of good and bad. There are bad things happening to good people. There are good things happening to bad people. Things happen.

The meaning of the word gospel is ‘good news’. The good news is that there is a greater plan. There is hope. There is a place for everybody.
“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.”