Yes, those cat memes are hilarious. Yes, I love to see how funny your kid is picking his nose and eating it. Yes, your pet is adorable wearing that pink bow. And yes, I'm so happy you showed me what you ate for lunch (again). OK, that last one was a lie...
We have such little time in our lives, wondering through this desert on our journey to the new promised land of Heaven, so if I'm going to be putting information into my brain, I want it to be useful, fruitful, restoring and refining so I can be the person God has called me to be--holy (1 Peter 1:16).
I'm not suggesting Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc., are wrong or evil, objectively no, not in the slightest. But clearly we have a tendency of distorting these useful tools and using them to become hungry gluttons craving social interaction.
First we need to recognize that social media is NOT a substitution for real life interactions or relationships. Go outside. Play a sport. Eat food with friends (and don't take a photo of it). Remember board games? Play one, with someone else... Go visit your mama. Do something, anything else.
Secondly, if you must insist on starting your day in bed checking your smartphone or bringing it with you to the bathroom (yes, we all do it) consider removing these apps from your phone. If you want to see what's new on Facebook etc. scroll through on your computer once or twice a day briefly. (You'd probably only miss a couple of cat memes). If you can't quite bring yourself to deleting these apps from your smartphone, then move them off your main screen. Out of sight, out out of mind.
Lastly, replace your social media apps with applications that deliver USEFUL and REFINING content. Here are five favourites of mine:
1. Bible. Not only can you read the Bible for free in almost any translation your heart desires, it gives you push notifications of the verse of the day. You can also start a reading plan. https://www.bible.com 
2. Church Father Quote Generator. This simple website pulls a new church father quote on demand! There are so many writings from the Christians in the first few centuries, encouraging and inspiring us to grow in our knowledge of the faith and in our relationship with Christ. Never heard of the church fathers? They are a hidden gem in the Christian community! http://codepen.io/robertsheacole/pen/rxejJQ
3. Ignatius Press Bible. Once again, you can read Scripture in RSV, but you can also get the daily Liturgy readings. There's a profound sense of unity, knowing that around the world, from east to west, the same readings are being read that day. https://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/app
4. iBooks. Get some books (many of them are free or cheap) and learn about the faith. When you have some free time, read a page, or a chapter... It doesn't have to be a lot all at once, just a little bit every day.
I challenge you. Go radical for a month and see how your life has changed!
No comments:
Post a Comment