Posts Tagged: social media

DTEB, The Sinner with a Capital T”

On February 24, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

My wife and I are reading through a book entitled Set Your Heart Free.  It is part of the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series, which is published by Ave Maria Press.  Set Your Heart Free is a modern paraphrase of selections from St. Francis de Sales.  Good stuff, which I heartily recommend!

Day twenty-four says (in part) the following: “Whenever your spirit is troubled, take some advice from St. Augustine: ‘Make haste, like David, to cry out: “Have mercy on me, O Lord,” that he may stretch forth his hand to moderate your anger or whatever it is that troubles you.’” (p. 82)

All through the day, the reading encourages us to pray, “Have mercy on me, O Lord.” (p. 83)

My mind immediately went to the prayer of the publican in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, in Luke 18:9-14.  The tax collector knew, beyond any shadow of doubt, that he was a sinner.  No, not simply a sinner!  The Greek has the definite article before the word “sinner.”  The tax collector cried out, “God, be merciful to me the sinner!”

Nowadays, there is a lot of anger in our world.  Political divisiveness seems to be magnified by our social media.  I must confess that I sometimes wonder if it should be called anti-social media.

What would help to diminish the anger, at least a bit?  I wish I knew.  But I can tell you what works for me when I actually practice it: The realization that I am the sinner, that I am the one in need of mercy—this makes it difficult for me to maintain an angry attitude toward others.

So, when I am inclined to be angry with the Democrats or the Republicans (I take turns on that), or with the conservative media or the liberal media (I take turns on that, too), then I need to remember that I am the sinner.

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“Internet Disconnection”

On May 8, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

 

 

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

No internet access.  I am too stingy to pay the $7.95 per day for further internet service.

Good!  I’ll discover that I can live without checking my e mail and googling stuff every few minutes.

I am rereading Thoreau’s Walden.   I have serious doubts that Thoreau would be on Face Book.  If Henry David Thoreau were alive today, would he be on line?  I doubt it.  Would Thoreau blog?

Hummmm . . .

Still, here I am journaling on my computer.  Is even that a good idea?

And, of course, my cell phone still works.  I just called my twelve-step sponsor to report and speak my affirmation for the day.

The Delphic Oracle, according to Socrates (according to Plato) had an inscription that read, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  Our modern slogan seems to be “The uncommunicated life is not worth living.”  The word “uncommunicated” was not in my computer’s dictionary until I added it.  However, the notion is most certainly in our unofficial collective psyche.

Perhaps my little experiment in living this disconnected life will help me to live out a more meaningfully connected life.  Perhaps it will free me up to live out my affirmation today.  “Today, by God’s grace, I will allow yesterday to be what it is: yesterday.  I will live in the now, choosing to be loved by God, and choosing to love God, other people, and the whole world.”

Perhaps it is in solitude (or, at least, in thoughtful conversation with another or a few others) that we attain something worth sharing, worth communicating.  Maybe, periodic and regular disconnection might help us to be more profoundly connected.

 

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