PAYING ATTENTION . . .

PEK's latest sermon series has been about the media: music, television, movies. How to watch them, and how not to watch them; how to listen, and how not to listen. Even before this series, I've tried to be careful about what I let in through my eyeballs and ears. My tolerance in the last year and a half for blood, guts, shooting, fighting, sex, bad behavior on the small and large screen has fallen in spades. Things that never used to bother me, bother me. Even little things, like the last scene of the movie "Red Eye," where the heroine behaves in an uncharacteristically impatient and rude manner ... I understood the purpose and the scripting and the character arc, but it still bothered me, and made me feel so bad inside.

I think my critical eye has also been sharpened. I've always viewed commercials as an interesting animal in and of themselves. I've always viewed them skeptically, hated the feeling of being blatantly manipulated, and really appreciated intelligent and creative marketing. Still, when I've got a grip on the remote control, I like to mute the television when commercials come on. I've always despised the feeling of just sitting there, unable to exert control over the things that wash over and through me. The mute button enables me to be selective, just a little more careful of what I let in.

Nevertheless, I forget once in a while. And this time, when I forgot, I heard and saw a recently oft-repeated commercial about HPV and cervical cancer. And the voiceover told me that there is a link between HPV, a virus, and cervical cancer. She told me that many women have HPV and don't even know it. She told me that sometimes, HPV causes cervical cancer, and sometimes it doesn't, but that every woman should go to her doctor and be checked out. She told me to tell every woman I love and care about, about these statistics and that they should visit their gynecologist.

I don't normally do what the television tells me to do. But I thought ... I've had enough of cancer around me. I don't want anymore. So all of you, go, get checked out. Please.

And now, I've got to hit the mute button again.