The death last week of my fellow syndicated columnist and TV commentator Robert Novak is a reminder about the short life of fame. Scripture says all of us will be forgotten and even those who are well-known to many will also be forgotten even by their contemporaries.
Bob Novak was baptized into the Catholic Church a few years ago. One hopes he knew Jesus Christ as his savior. The media reaction to his death was predictable. We tend to hold our own in higher esteem than, say, a soldier who gives his or her life for the country.
Our values have been out of joint for a long time. We worship celebrity and ignore people who really matter. We trust politicians more than God. And we think fame equals true achievement.
Those of us who comment on the news don’t usually make news. People who live quiet lives in stable marriages are far more influential than we are. Still, Bob Novak represented a type of journalism that is in short supply today, and that is too bad for the country.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
