Reflection - I’ll Google it

Reflection - I'll google it - Photo: bigstockphoto.comToday, thanks to modern technology, we have almost constant access to information of all sorts.

“I’ll Google it,” is the frequent response to someone looking for some forgotten, or unknown, fact or statistic. And how speedily does the answer come! The same speed that allows us to express our little gems in 140 characters or send images across continents in the blink of an eye.

Marvellous tools, but at what cost? Press-button information or knowledge is no substitute for wisdom. Have we been so ensnared by the delights of digital living that we are really convinced that we have ‘no time to stand and stare’?

Recent research by various museums gives credence to this observation. It was noted that about ten years ago people spent roughly 30 seconds looking at a painting; today it is down to about four seconds. How different from the experience of author, Henri Nouwen who spent months looking at Rembrandt’s great painting of the Prodigal Son and whose reflection on it was the foundation of one of his greatest books.

But how many hours do we spend texting, blogging, phoning? We do not need months to reflect on aspects of the social media, but it is only right that we should question our use of it. While not allowing it to consume all our time and turn us into addicts, we can ask ourselves if we use it simply to escape ourselves, to avoid boredom, or to build up an admiring group of followers. It need not be like this. We are ‘connectors’, people who want to bond with others, form relationships, develop friendships.

Today, thanks to the gift of modern technology, we are able to link with others across the world and share ideas and skills to build up hope and bring peace. When we choose to use this wonderful gift for the good of others, to encourage them and not pull them down, we become apostles of hope in this digital age. To choose otherwise is to quench the spirit.

“You cannot serve two masters,” Jesus told us (Matt 7:24). If we spend an inordinate amount of time on social media, if we allow it to absorb us totally, whom are we following? “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt 7:21). When we find God in our clever digital tools, using them to build and to nourish, then we are indeed blessed and the Kingdom grows.  

Columban Sr Redempta Twomey is the Editor’s Assistant for 'The Far East' magazine in Ireland.

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