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I have been so proud of myself! Though I am not exactly
on the cutting-edge when it comes
to technology, I have begun text messaging on my cell phone fairly
consistently! I’m still pretty slow at it, and, sometimes in the middle of
writing a text, I get frustrated not being able to express my thoughts clearly
and succinctly, so I give up and just call the person and actually talk to
them. But I’ve been feeling proud -- until now. Now there’s twittering – a
social networking and miro-blogging service. You send tweets ,short.text messages that are
displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have
signed up to receive them. (taken from the Wickipedia introduction to Twitter) It seems to be a
kind of a combination instant
messaging and texting
with technology I do not possess. And twittering seems to be all the rage now.
Many of you reading this probably twitter all the time. Evidently, people have begun twittering in many
churches, sharing their thoughts about the experience they are having in worship
while the worship service is going on. This might be a form of outreach and
even of community building. It’s also a way of not be fully present to the
worship experience. Twittering is not the only way of doing this. Most of us
do not need high technology to be distracted in worship! I think that most of
us live a good amount of our lives somewhat distracted. Perhaps you are like I
am and tend to live “at the periphery of our lives.” (from Elizabeth O’Connor, Eighth Day of
Creation) What distracts you? There are lots of things that
distract me from acting according to what I believe deep down inside. For
example, I like to please people and it can be distracting when doing what I
think is the right thing puts me in conflict with someone whose opinion I
value. I get distracted when I start to worry about things like money. And
when I worry too much, it’s hard to know what I even want.
From what are we being distracted? Each of us has an
inner self, our core self.
Thomas Merton called this a “deep, transcendent self that awakens only in
contemplation.” (from
Seeds of
Contemplation) He contrasted this self with the “I” we
usually think of as our identity. This “I” is easily distracted and influenced
by culture, friends, and fears. The inner self is the one God created us to be.
This is the self that builds genuine relationship with God and with others.
This is the core from which the treasure each of us has to give the world
emerges. The inner self becomes real to us only through a certain
kind of stillness. Merton called it contemplation. The Bible calls it
Sabbath. We have a very hard time with Sabbath in our American culture.
Sabbath is the opposite of achieving. Sabbath is being: being with ourselves,
with others, and with God in an attitude of gratitude. When we trust in God’s
grace and the uniqueness of what each of us has to bring to the world, then we
will act out of our real strength – our partnership with the Spirit. The gifts
we have to share will be shared fully and with great return. I am reminded of a
quotation from Bernard of Clairvaux in the twelfth century:
If you are wise, you
will become a reservoir rather than a canal. A canal distributes its water as
fast as it receives it, but a reservoir is content to wait until it is filled
before overflowing; and thus, without loss to itself, it communicates its
superabundant water to others…. In the church of the present day, we have many
canals, but few reservoirs. (from Invitations by Francis Dewar,
40) Thanks for continuing to bless me as we journey
together. |
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