When the
semester begins, I can tell that my students have trouble going for a few hours
without checking their phones to see who’s texted them or posted on their
Facebook status. In fact, I now put on
my syllabus that they cannot text while class is in session. One would think
this to be common sense, but in fact, if I don’t state this up front, they will
try to text. Some of them have become so skilled, they can text from the inside
depths of their pockets. Their desperate attempt at feeding their addictions of
texting and checking Facebook status is a symptom of a much larger problem in
our society.
Never
before in the history of civilization, have people been able to be present in
one place, while connecting somewhere else. Sitting in Jazmines Café at the
University where I teach, I always notice that hardly anyone is talking. They
are plugged into something that takes them somewhere else, whether they are
texting, on Facebook, watching Youtube, googling information, or plugged into
their Ipods. They are often completely oblivious to what’s happening around
them.
If we
think of one of the primary functions of the Divine Liturgy as a means to
engage in a more meaningful experience that transcends the Chronos of everyday
life, cyber social networking does the complete opposite. Kairos, a more
personal and meaningful use of time is the Greek term used for the time spent
at the Divine Liturgy. Cyber social networking then, has become the epitome of
Chronos, the ordinary and the mundane use of time. It removes us from the
present moment. It is a communication that
involves our superficial faculties: the eyes, ears and hands, as opposed to our
deeper abilities as human beings such as creativity and intuition, skills that
involve not only our brains but also our hearts and souls, which we require for
prayer life and worship.
And of
course, the ultimate form of
communication we can engage in as human beings is the Eucharist, which requires
the body, the heart and the soul
simultaneously.
Unfortunately,
the reason people are so strangely addicted to Facebook, Twitter and other
forms of cyber social networking is because it gives them a sense of connection
to a community. We often don’t know our neighbors or town officials and our
close relatives and friends usually do not live near us. Hence, we substitute
that lack of physical community with cyber community. Belonging to these cyber
communities isolate us even more, since the more friends we have on Facebook or
Twitter, the more time we will spend on these sites alone at home, often
ignoring our spouses, parents, children and siblings. Ironically, cyber communities
cause the very thing we hope to avoid.
It
worries me to think of the future of prayer life and connection to not only
God, but to one another, which we know as Orthodox Christians is essential to
our salvation. The beauty of our faith is that our salvation very much depends
on what we do in this lifetime including our relationships with others, which
is exactly why church life is so important.
When we participate in the Eucharist, we are not only concelebrants with
God, but also with one another.
Moreover,
if we are all created in the Image of God, than how can we see this image in a
person’s face, or hear it in his or her voice when communicating through
texting or Facebook? The answer is simple. We can’t. If we are all icons, as
the church fathers tell us, then the image of that icon remains unseen through
a cyber connection. Can you imagine walking into an Orthodox Church with no
icons? The soul of that church would
seem quite empty.
The
Divine Liturgy and the liturgy after the liturgy, as St. John Chrysostom calls
it, teaches us communion with God, but also with one another. It also teaches
us to be in the here and now, the beautiful mystery of living in the Kairos,
rather than only in the Chronos.
Source: http://pemptousia.com/2017/01/the-image-of-god-in-a-world-of-social-networking/
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