As if the general economic gloom isn’t bad enough, the world of journalism/media these days feels like the auto industry. Last week, Scripps (which owns The Commercial Appeal and this very blog) decided to put the venerable Rocky Mountain News up for sale, as a prelude to closing it in early 2009 (can there be anyone out there want to buy a debt-ridden newspaper, despite its recent run of Pulitzers?). The Tribune Co. — LATimes, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Cubs — declared bankruptcy yesterday. And today two anchors and a dozen other employees were laid off from WMC-TV Channel 5. It’s enough to make you stop reading/watching/listening to the news, and, as a journalist, that’s not something I say lightly.

So what’s the solution? Good old fashioned denial — and distraction. This morning, I went to Chapel at my kid’s school — he was the reader this morning, talking about how the river Jordan stopped flowing so the priests could bring the ark of the covenant safely into Israel. Singing a few Advent hymns, watching Tomas in his angelic choir robes read so confidently at the pulpit, has changed the complexion of my day completely from yesterday.

Things are still scary, and the future is still uncertain, but, at least for today, I feel a reprieve.

What are you doing to cheer yourself up these days? Send ideas … there’s no Chapel tomorrow!