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That's the Way it Is |
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Every evening I learned about my world with surety and trust. I grew up with Walter Cronkite in my living room. He walked me through the major news events of the day. His voice was definite and distinctive, assuring me "That's the way it is" just in case I had any doubts.
Bill and I visited the Walter Cronkite exhibit at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum in Austin. The exhibit demonstrated this one man's contribution to journalistic reporting of every important news event during my lifetime. Being "the most trusted man in America" crossed intellectual, socio-economic, gender, and cultural lines. TV viewers looked to him as a man of truth.
Gosh. I wish I could turn on the TV news this evening and invite the broadcaster into my living room. When I turn on the news I want to say: But sir, would you leave your rant outside? Could you please report the news without a spin? Oh yes ma'am, I understand that you're passionate about the story but if you'd be less emotional, I could form my own opinion.
About the exhibit -- it's not just grave dust. It bears live witness to Cronkite's dedication to what he called a "sacred covenant". He took each of us on a walk: to stand beside a grieving Jackie Kennedy, and into the jungles of Viet Nam; to outer space, and for a walk on the moon. For every important event he brought us there. We invited him in and he took us for a walk.
With whom will we walk in trust this evening? |
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---by Jan |
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The Person I Wanted to Be - by Bill
Photo courtesy of the Walter Cronkite Papers, the Briscoe Center for American History.  |
"Walter [Cronkite] was the person I always wanted to be when I was a very young reporter -- the person I'm still trying to be, truth be told," -- Bob Schieffer, CBS News, Face the Nation, May 16, 2010.
I can see why. The Cronkite exhibit is tribute to a hard-working man of deep integrity. The memorabilia on display bear out that judgment, but so do my own memories. The major events of the third quarter of the 20th century -- the Kennedy assassination, space flight, the Civil Rights Movement, and Vietnam -- came to my awareness through Walter Cronkite. Like many Americans of the time, I saw the world, in part, through Walter Cronkite's eyes and heard the world's stories through Walter Cronkite's voice. Named "the most trusted man in America," Cronkite was affectionately called "Uncle Walter" by thousands he'd never met.
The exhibit never mentions that Cronkite was a church member, but he was. In the 1970's, while attending a Presbyterian seminary in New Jersey, I learned that Cronkite attended a Presbyterian church in Connecticut. I know nothing about his personal faith. Still, it is safe to assume that the church and its stories shaped Walter Cronkite's vision, much as Cronkite and his stories shaped the nation's vision of what was important and true.
Which leads me to wonder: Who or what guides your vision (or mine) today? Who shapes the stories that give shape to your life?
And who is your role-model -- the person whom, truth be told, you are still trying to be? |
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Copyright (c) 2010 Soul Windows Ministries
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