I don’t know what to do with all of this endless chatter, this barrage of images and quotes preaching at me. This black hole called the Internet. A society that feasts on power and image. The constant connectivity of everyone and everything. I see the merits – the world is smaller, information is at our disposal more quickly – but it’s mostly a loud, annoying noise that won’t stop.
It’s like a bad storm has rolled in. And although the rain is nice, the constant thunder, lightening, and looming dark clouds are menacing after awhile. You just want them to go. You crave a different setting. One that’s less crowded and threatening. The Bright! Shiny! New! Click me! lifestyle is exciting like a thunderstorm, tricking you into doing the happy dance in the rain before it hits you with lightening and tornadoes.
Nothing has sparked a blandness in my life like social media. I miss life as before, when it was not drowning in other people’s comings and goings. How do we stay here, and live here, and be humans together without trying to conquer one another through our projectile vomiting of opinions, boasting, and fame-addictions?
I don’t know. But I’m trying to keep my focus on the behind-the-scenes of my life, and I’m trying to pay attention to my neighbors, and I’m trying to remember the timeless simplicity of how Jesus spoke and lived.
I can’t just disengage, and avoid the stupidness altogether. Nor can I take part in the mud-slinging, in the fierce effort to be liked, in the obsession with being right and being top-dog. I’d feel empty either way. So what do I do?
I rebel. I go another way. And what does it look like? That’s what I’m trying to navigate. Life this 21st.