lost in translation

The television show, "Lost", is currently on hiatus. Six of the season's twenty-two episodes were aired this fall (mostly while I was on the road -- don't worry, I still saw them), and now it is a waiting game until the first week in February, when ABC will show sixteen episodes in a row with no repeats. The question is not why do I like the show, but rather: why am I, like so many others, missing it?

I believe the answer is that, in a world which faces so many challenges, we long to engage in a suspension of our disbelief. I believe we grow if we are forced to grapple with situations and circumstances outside our own.

Some would argue about the value of television, and with good reason. It is, after all, spoon-feeding us every bit of information it has to offer. However, if we choose to engage beyond the program in further thought and discussion, how can we do anything but grow in the process. That is the answer: to grow, we must engage in fruitful thought and discussion with those around us.

Programs like "Lost" insure that an inherent value remains in a medium that easily transformed the way humans share and receive information.