It seems like every story has a loser and they never seem to make the news, they are just a result of it. But it’s the losers that make it into my mind. Losers could be called by-products or even stakeholders. But losers are always people and people matter.

Part of my daily routine is checking in on the news of the day. At home it’s the local and national broadcast. On the ride to work it’s a listen to radio news. Then at the office it’s a quick check of the computer  sites for the top stories of the day and then a check to see what’s being shared on Facebook and Twitter. More times than not, this practice is not good for the blood pressure. It’s the tired topics that surface in the news that seem to irk more than inform. And it’s the tired topics that make me focus on the losers.

Some of them include:

â–º The presidential campaign.

â–º Banks.

â–º Celebrities.

These topics have one thing in common — the losers. And as we have more and more stories thrust upon us about these tired topics, it’s the losers that need the real focus, yet they are consistently  left out, discounted and disregarded.  As people of faith these losers should be front and center in our focus and in our prayers.

The presidential campaign is such a costly expenditure of energy on the candidates, the media, the marketing, you name it. And all the losers are constantly being used as political beach balls bounced back and forth to suit the rhetoric of any given day. Who are the losers?  They are the poor, the mentally ill, the jobless, the immigrants, the middle class and all those that lack the education and the interest to even participate in the electoral system in the first place. These people lose every day. They are talked about. But does anyone really care about them? Not only do they need our prayers and our political voice, they need our help. They need help to find their way from all their fellow losers like you and me.

And if you look left and look right in any crowd anywhere on the planet, you will undoubtedly find a person in the family of losers resulting from banking. I am extremely angry that big banks that tanked the economy report record profits and still hand out unbelievable bonuses on the backs of their customers and taxpayers. And more reports of a tangled web of lies and fraud surface every day.

What are we doing for those that have lost their savings and pensions? What are we doing for  those who are homeless or who struggle to stay in their homes? What is being done for young people who want to buy a home or for those who work and constantly struggle to pay their bills? These are the losers left out of the banking stories. The losers don’t get bonuses and don’t get headlines, they just get the bill.

And then we have the celebrities that make the news. Who are the losers as a result of this tired topic? Well there are many. We lose when we think their lives are more important than ours or when we give any serious consideration to their divorce settlements, their sexual pronouncements, what they wear or where they eat.  Does making a movie or TV show for which you were paid some exorbitant amount of money somehow make you qualified as an expert on all aspects of society and life?

As people of faith we can reach out to the losers as we practice the beatitudes … not just memorize them, but put them into practice. Keep the news we are bombarded with in perspective. Consume the information with a critical and credible eye. Ask ourselves, does this matter? Is this a universal concern or just a First World, media-generated problem? Who loses? Turn our focus from the sensational to the rational. Look at the news like an explosion: do we just watch and walk away or do we stay and help clear the debris?

Perhaps all us losers can clear the debris and perhaps change the world armed with good information like ... “whatsoever you do to the least of my people that you do unto me” and “the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” No loser in that story.