Reading the headlines of today’s newspaper, sitting here on my front porch after church, I’m struck that page one shows no evidence at all that the hope and promise of Easter — when God makes all things new — has had even a ripple of effect on headline-worthy news.

“Ambivalence,” “frenetic,” “desperate,” are the most visible words above the fold.  These definitely are not Easter words.  These are not words of faith, but fear.  And the words of the Risen Christ began with “Fear Not.”

A closer read past A1 doesn’t fare much better.  For example, the vice-chairman of GM is quoted as staking the future of the now-bankrupt automaker on the belief that “a car is not a washing machine — the proof of which is that people do not lust after their washing machines.” According to Michael Leavey’s article about GM’s Bob Lutz, “A gorgeous car, he says, is an expression of power and yearning, especially for owners who hope the vehicles will inject excitement and romance into their otherwise mundane lives.”

If this car exec is right, how does the Good News of Easter compete with the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS with a V-8 engine that greets passengers arriving in the terminal of Detroit Metropolitan Airport these days?  I find it appalling that when workers and consumers alike are struggling to buy any car at all, to get to jobs that may or may not be there, GM is still being run on a desire for power, yearning, excitement, and romance for our “mundane lives”.  And it’s one thing that GM thinks this is the way it should be; it’s even more distressing that we allow the Easter message to appear to be so impotent in the face of such empty promises.

Or what are we to make of Dana Milbank’s column about a Wall Street Journal investigative reporter whose “family didn’t hold his memorial service in a church,” but in “the Newseum.  It was a perfect choice to honor a man for whom newspapering was a civic religion”? O.k.  The deceased obviously wasn’t very religious. What caught my attention, however, was that this was the son and brother of mainline Protestant ministers — and that so many of us live as if the Good News itself  is just around the corner from being installed into the Newseum.  If so, forget building new churches.

I believe, however that Christians are not supposed to read the headlines as if Easter really doesn’t matter.  And if so, then now most of all is the time we need to overcome our own frenetic, desperate, ambivalence and do whatever is in our power to make  sure there is a place big enough and inviting enough for the Good News of Easter to be preached and experienced and lived out tomorrow for all who would draw near to hear.

Out of all those people who got all gussied-up for Easter, at least some of us ought to be deeply troubled that we so easily forget Easter, and read over the news of the day as if Easter not only doesn’t but actually shouldn’t make any difference in the way we talk about our lives, much less live them out in the ‘real world’, God forbid.

Otherwise, we should just forget Easter.  It’s summer now.  Head on out to the beach and start saving for that Camaro SS V-8.