Any Christian who has endured a public campaign of calumny might understand where my head and heart were for a time this winter. On the one hand, I’m fine and Jesus is Lord. Amen? Amen. On the other hand, it stinks. We are created to love and be loved, not to be cut down by members of our own community.
There are a number of different ways that I could have handled my own situation. Not everyone agreed that I should have pushed back at all or the way in which I did it. I don’t blame them. As much as we can’t help but dive into the drama of our own lives over and over again, there can be irritation when we are overwhelmed with the messes of others. It’s too much. Please just post cute cat videos. My own life is so heavy… I can’t absorb your trials as well.
So I was told more than a few times: “Rise above it. Let it go.”
I understood the plea. It’s more comfortable for everyone, and possibly better for my soul, to just move along practicing quiet virtue. I wrote a little bit about why I chose to push back publicly HERE. The short form is that I did my best to be obedient to God in that moment, and that if someone is not willing to stand up in a woman’s defense, it is a sharp unkindness to tell her that she may not even speak on her own behalf or to shame her when she does. Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life, and our testimony into the darkness includes engaged opposition to confusion, lies, and damage to God’s loved ones.
Though advice and perspective varied, nearly everyone agreed that the internet itself had something to do with the foulness of the circumstances. Many verbalized the thought this way:
“THE INTERNET IS TOXIC.”
I’ve said it myself countless times. Variations in this case included:
“The internet is fantasy.”
”Social media is a cesspool.”
”Don’t take any of it seriously.”
Heads nod knowingly as we take these bits into our arsenals of wisdom, most likely to be regurgitated on the internet… Toxic… So true, so true!
And yet, the heart doesn’t understand these sayings. It feels the blows. It hears the lies. And some of those lies hit pretty close to the deep and real wounds of living in a world that doesn’t know our dignity and doesn’t take time to cherish. Nobody wants to be lied about or accused by people with behavior problems. But it’s more than that. The origin of my hurt and anger was not primarily the sophomoric name calling or lies, but in the response of the community. There were many people who liked those cruel posts, shared them, mocked… and there was not a soul that stood up before I did and said “this is not of Christ.”
However, the body of believers was busy with words for me…
“Just get over it. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Maybe. Maybe it’s my fault for being on the "the toxic internet.” Or maybe it’s time to step up and choose to enter into the heart of the Father for others, not necessarily taking sides in the details, but speaking truth about the inherent dignity of all people and calling those who have broken with virtue to be better.
Though many people left the internet for the Lenten season, most will come back sometime after Easter and pick up where they left off, doing as they have always done. The complainers complain. The lurkers lurk. The memers meme. The academics say smart things. The bloggers emote. The cute cat video posters squish themselves between the relentlessly negative liturgy debates. For those of us who’ve stayed, it is Lent but we are not changed. Not yet anyway.
Some would lay the blame on the amorphous internet and say that the only way to be holy is to leave it. I disagree. Let’s talk about that.
Social Media is People
We all understand (especially those of us who are GenX and older) that the format of social media interferes with healthy and rightly ordered interaction with other souls; yet we have collectively decided that the undertaking is worth it and that it’s an unavoidable aspect of community, business, and evangelization in our time.
Do we really want to heal the world, the Church, souls? Okay, then it’s time to say it…
The internet is people. If social media is toxic, it is because people are behaving badly. Mea Culpa. Come Holy Spirit. Help me change.
If we want to make any progress in using our very lives to give testimony and to worship the living God (Romans 12: 1), then we’ve got to face the reality that we have agreed to participate in this vast social experiment and we are responsible for our behavior. “I’m not my best self on social media. The place is just toxic.” That’s lame. I have another proposition for you:
We have the time to pause and edit. We have a backspace key, the option to delete, and a formation in virtue and in the love, mercy, and tenderness of Jesus Christ. We are out of excuses for our part in the madness.
We are capable of self-correction. We can find common ground, apply the mute or snooze button, we can block, we can set timers, we can grab an accountability partner. We can pray to the Holy Spirit before we type anything. This protest of futility that the internet has a greater grip on humanity than grace is capable of overcoming has simply got to go.
False Worship
Throughout the last week, I have returned repeatedly to Romans 12, reflecting on what it means to become a living sacrifice in this life. Saint Paul says:
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
I didn’t realize that this was the same chapter of Romans preached on at Asbury in the minutes before the first whispers of “revival.” I have no connection to Asbury but I noted the coincidence and prayed that God would bring me to revival this Lent as well, in the same spirit of repentance and devotion which has swept up those students. I also took notice of the response of “the internet” and Catholics in particular, which was laced with heavy doubt, skepticism, a bit of arrogance, and disbelief.
As article after article rolled out questioning the phenomenon of Christians praying to Christ in a Christian chapel, I saw how “the internet” becomes a form of false worship at which altar we gladly drool, stupefied to the point of bitterness even toward prayer.
We talk about it. And talk and talk and talk. Until we are mired in pride, vainglory, self-reliance. We scroll and pour out as if this is where we can hope to find truth and healing. Is it the fault of “the internet”? Or have we allowed ourselves to be subtly led away from true worship? In Romans, St. Paul says that in order to offer spiritual worship, we are to…
Be a living sacrifice
Holy and acceptable
Transformed by the renewal of the mind
To prove what is good and acceptable and perfect
To think with sober judgment
To prophecy
To serve
To teach
To exhort
To give aid with zeal
To do acts of mercy with cheerfulness
Do we really want to know how to behave on the internet? Let’s keep walking through this chapter. Paul does not soft peddle…
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
10 love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
11 Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.
12 Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
18 If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
20 No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
If we leave the internet for Lent and return after Easter, then let us return transformed. If we stay, let us become virtuous where we tread. The good Lord knows that we’ve got an uphill battle before us, but perhaps not so difficult if we return to the first principles of the Christian life.
During Lent, we hide our Alleluia, but we are never to hide our joy, our praise, or the cause of our hope. Blessed be God.
Miscellany
Catholic childbirth classes! Very excited to share these classes offered by my dear friend, Micaela Darr. She is offering in-person as well as zoom. Please consider this for first time moms or as a refresher. I've had a chance to peek at her content and love what she is doing. Next session starts in March. Beata Birth
Clean (but not woke) makeup. After giving up one non-toxic makeup company because of it’s radical leftist mission, I found an excellent replacement. I’ve been using Crunchi for a year and have no complaints. Here is my affiliate link if you’re looking for options. Crunchi makeup
Sunshine in the wild. I captured this image of my book from someone’s stories on Instagram. There was no tag or label so it took me a second… wait, that looks familiar… and put a big smile on my face.
What made me laugh this week…
Have a blessed and fruitful Lenten season, friends! May the hope and joy of Jesus Christ be present to you in ever deeper ways as you allow Him to strip away the distractions of your mind and heart.
Melody
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