This week I found myself reflecting on just that topic tough & for your reading pleasure I offer my latest piece from the Global Sisters Report from the National Catholic Reporter: "Creating a true worldwide web of solidarity and action"
__________________
Monday night half of my friends showed up in the same place.
As I scrolled down my newsfeed on Facebook, I paused as one
friend after another "checked-in" from Cannon Ball, North Dakota.
That is, they declared their presence at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation,
which is currently embroiled in protests around the construction of the Dakota
Access Pipeline.
Of course, they weren't there, but with rumors circulating
that geo-locating yourself there — even virtually — would help those
protesting, people of good will tried to make an effort. "I'm there."
One friend wrote, while another chimed in, "Standing in solidarity with
the Sioux people of Standing Rock, North Dakota as they resist the oil
pipeline."
It's hard to tell if these messages of support made a real
difference or helped to protect those on the ground, but, at least on one
level, the effort of this mass assembly at Standing Rock brought the struggle
on the ground into the consciousness of the larger community of friends and
families around the world.
For that moment, thousands joined those in the fields of
North Dakota in love and support and the World Wide Web was much bigger than a
site. It was the recognition that, in fact, we are all one — interwoven in a
web of relationship around the world.
Each one of my friends was there . . . but they also
weren't.
That's part of the dichotomy of social media. A click of a
button puts up a post without contributing any money towards the cause or
soliciting political action. And just as easy as that click of the button, I
could scroll down the page to find another post that would be more pleasing to
my conscience, something to meet my momentary sensibilities and soothe my soul.
So, what does it mean to be truly connected in this day and
age?
For one, it means being a part of a much more realistic
worldwide web than the one on my phone or computer screen. It means connecting
with real people and recognizing that those connections have implications and
expectations.
We were made to be in relationship with one another. From
the very beginning, each one of us was born into a web of relationships. Over
time, we grow in these relationships and with each new person we meet, our webs
become intertwined. There's no helping it. The true task of our living, though,
is to recognize the nature of this entanglement.
For every action I undertake, every word I speak, every
person or situation I engage, I pull on the strings of my web. Thus, when I am
lifted up those I am bound to by relationship are lifted up too. Or when I try
to sever a relationship, the change in tension in the web impacts all the other
bonds I sustain.
It can be easy to forget these connections in the everyday,
to try to fend for ourselves. Such thinking, however, is a false perception.
The way I act or choose to live my life will impact others whether I realize it
or not. The attitude I project into the world will rub off on others. The
clothes or the food I buy are bound up in other people's lives and livelihoods.
The choices I make for balanced or healthy living have implications near and
far.
We are all members of a worldwide web, and our membership in
this global system makes us responsible to and for the entirety of the system.
We are not alone; we are all one.
Framing our connection in such a way draws us not only into
the hearts of one another, but ultimately it leads us into the heart of God.
This is the One who stands with us. Bound by humanity, Christ knows the perils
and pitfalls of the web of relationships we belong to.These are not easy connections;
they cost something, and yet, they form us in our being present to them. They
call us to a consciousness of others so that in the web of such relationships
we might find God.
All of this doesn't mean foreswearing the internet though.
It means embracing the World Wide Web as a piece of the larger web of human
relationships. If we let it, the internet and particularly social media have
the power to expand our world.
With intentionality, we can become citizens of the world,
connected to news breaking around the globe and engaged in the lives and times
of people beyond our normal web of connection. Taking such a step requires
purposeful engagement. It means stepping beyond the atmosphere of distraction
so prevalent in the digital age to engage a world of relationship present both
in-person and online.
As Christians we need to be in both of these places. One is
not better than the other; they are simply different ways of connecting and
communicating. Interactions, both online and in person, require compassion,
presence, and active involvement. You can't forget the person on the other end
and, in turn, the call to action spurred on by human relationship in a world
that is constantly connected.
If you can see the world this way, it levels the playing
field. A world that seems vast and divided is actually strung together quite
tightly. It is a world in which all that I do and all that I am influences the
world around me. I am connected in ways I can't even imagine, to people I may
not even know. Yet we are sisters and brothers.
As we stand on the precipice of a presidential election, it's helpful to remember that. No matter our differences, we are one — united in a shared humanity and bound to influence one another. We face the choice of how to be one in the web that strings us together. This goes beyond the powerful tool for consciousness-raising and conversion-making at our finger tips to the worldwide web of grace and love that lies within us.
Once we can tap into that, there's no limit to where we might go.
No comments:
Post a Comment