Grant that I, Lord, may not be anxious about earthly things, but love things heavenly; and even now, while I am placed among things that are passing away, hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Source: The Divine Hours
The lure of social media, games, and binge-watching a series on Netflix can be one of the most disruptive forces in our pursuit of prayer or writing. The practice of scrolling through social media does not restore our minds or spirits in any way, even it’s enjoyable to catch with a friend.
Most importantly, we can invest significant parts of our weeks in practices that aren’t just preventing us from mindfulness, prayer, writing, or exercise. We could also end up more stressed, sleep-deprived, and distracted than we were to begin with. This article on limiting screen time is directed at parents, but I think it applies to all of us:
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“Rather than making rules based strictly on screen time, figure out what your kids are actually doing when they’re on the computer or their phone, says Devorah Heitner, who founded Raising Digital Natives and is the author of Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World.”
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“If you’re concerned about compulsive use, current research suggests that online games seem to be the technology most likely to “potentially result in problems,” says Daria Kuss, a psychologist and member of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University in the U.K.”
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“One way to help everyone curb overuse is to create tech-free zones, says Rosen. Those can be geographical, like banning technology at the kitchen table or bathroom. Removing smartphones and tablets from the bedroom is also helpful.”
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“And Mary said,“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”
Luke 1:46-47
After hearing news that I suspect no one can fully comprehend, Mary responded with words of praise for God. The word to “magnify” is sometimes translated as extol or praise, as we don’t often speak of “magnifying” someone these days.
Mary saw her role in the salvation plan of God as a reason to praise God. She didn’t have to bear the burden of seeking her own glory, defending her own name, or exalting her own plans.
There is great freedom in our surrender to God’s direction for our lives.
As we limit ourselves to the actions that draw glory to God, we shake away the many ambitions and fears that can drag so many down. May we find the joy of Mary as we surrender ourselves to God’s loving direction.
According to Henrí Nouwen, judgment prevents us from ministering to others, while compassion makes all ministry possible. Compassion comes from the practice of solitude where God can ministry to us with mercy.
Once we have experienced God’s compassion and mercy for us, we’ll be able to share the same with others. Here are Nouwen’s thoughts on solitude from his book, The Way of the Heart:
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“Compassion is the fruit of solitude and the basis of all ministry.”
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“We have to give up measuring our meaning and value with the yardstick of others. To die to our neighbors means to stop judging them, to stop evaluating them, and thus to become free to be compassionate.”
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“Solitude molds self-righteous people into gentle, caring, forgiving persons who are so deeply convinced of their own great sinfulness and so fully aware of God’s even greater mercy that their life itself becomes ministry.”
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“When we are filled with God’s merciful presence, we can do nothing other than minister because our whole being witnesses to the light that has come into the darkness.”
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Read more in The Way of the Heart.
The average person is not going to delete every social media profile no matter what researchers tell us about social media, so what should we make of the many studies that tell us about the impact of social media?
Facebook is a favorite target of researchers, and some studies would lead us to believe that Facebook “causes” depression. However, it’s also possible that depressed people are more likely to use Facebook, which hardly helps matters. One compilation of these studies offers some insight into what we know, what we don’t know, and what we can be reasonably certain about when it comes to Facebook helps us dig a little deeper into its impact.
As we approach writing and prayer, social media is one of the many influences that can impact our moods, mindsets, and mental space for prayer or creative thought. Here are a few quotes to consider from the article:
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“People who had taken a break from Facebook felt happier and were less sad and lonely,” an online presentation of the study said. Those on a Facebook “fast” also “reported a significantly higher level of satisfaction” and significantly less stress than those sentenced to remain on the site.
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According to a 2013 research paper from Germany, for example, “upward social comparison and envy can be rampant” on Facebook and other social networks. The online environment promotes “narcissistic behavior,” the researchers found, “with most users sharing only positive things about themselves.” Among the 357 participants in the German studies, the researchers turned up a large number of what they called “envy-inducing incidents” — most frequently related to travel and leisure, social interactions and “happiness.”
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A 2012 study found that posting status updates decreased loneliness, even when those updates elicited no response. And a 2010 study recorded moment-by-moment physiological responses when using Facebook. The equipment logged indicators of pleasant emotion when users actively sought out information or directly communicated with their Facebook friends, but fewer such positive feelings when passively browsing.
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Solitude is good for us, but that doesn’t mean it will be an easy or tranquil time. In fact, Nouwen assures us in The Way of the Heart, that solitude is where we struggle to find our identity.
Each day we are hit with new expectations, desires, and compulsions that could pull is in so many different directions. The voice of God can be drowned out if we don’t pull back, face the worst parts of our false selves, and quietly wait on the Lord.
This week Nouwen describes some of what we can expect in solitude:
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“Solitude is not a private therapeutic place. Rather, it is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and the new woman occurs.”
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“This struggle is far, far beyond our own strength. Anyone who wants to fight his demons with his own weapons is a fool. The wisdom of the desert is that the confrontation with our own frightening nothingness forces us to surrender ourselves totally and unconditionally to the Lord Jesus Christ. Alone, we cannot face the ‘mystery of iniquity’ with impunity.”
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“We are responsible for our own solitude. Precisely because our secular milieu offers us so few spiritual disciplines, we have to develop our own. We have, indeed, to fashion our own desert where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions, and dwell in the gentle healing presence of our Lord.”
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“Solitude is not simply a means to an end. Solitude is its own end. It is the place where Christ remodels us in his own image and frees us from the victimizing compulsions of the world.”
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Read more in The Way of the Heart.
Let us bless the Lord God living and true!
Let us always render him praise, glory, honor, blessing, and all good things!
Amen. Amen. So be it! So be it!
-St. Francis of Assisi
Source: The Divine Hours
Each Friday I share some of my favorite finds related to praying or writing. If I think it could help you pray or write better, then I’ll include it below.
Do you have someone else’s article or post to share? Join the Contemplative Writers Facebook group, comment on today’s post on my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter (@edcyzewski) to nominate your favorite articles, blog posts, and books by Thursday at noon each week.
Something to Learn from the Last Generation Before the Internet
Three Weeks After My Book Is Published (It’s no secret that I appreciate the writing of D. L. Mayfield)
The Spiritual Practice of Writing a Book
Father Thomas Keating on the Meaning of Life (Hint: It doesn’t come naturally!)
From Ed’s blog: When Do Christian Books Cause Too Much Damage?
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Henrí Nouwen distills the teachings of the desert fathers and mothers into a brief but incredibly useful book on silence, solitude, and prayer called The Way of the Heart. Grounded in the experience of ministry, Nouwen’s insights are refreshingly accessible and practical.
Readers need not be involved in ministry. If anything, ministers face heightened or exacerbated situations that call all the more for the wisdom in this slender book. This week we’re looking at why we need to head for the hills.
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“The words flee, be silent and pray summarize the spirituality of the desert. They indicate the three ways of preventing the world from shaping us in its image and are thus the three ways to life in the Spirit.”
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“Our calendars are filled with appointments, our days and weeks filled with engagements, and our years filled with plans and projects. There is seldom a period in which we do not know what to do, and we move through life in such a distracted way that we do not even take the time and rest to wonder if any of the things we think, say, or do are worth thinking, saying or doing.”
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“Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. Jesus himself entered into this furnace. There he was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant (‘turn stones into loaves’), to be spectacular (‘throw yourself down’), and to be powerful (‘I will give you all these kingdoms’). There he affirmed God as the only source of his identity (‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone’). Solitude is the place of the great struggle and the great encounter – the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the loving God who offers himself as the substance of the new self.”
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Today’s prayer comes from the Common Prayer app:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me;
body of Christ, save me;
blood of Christ, inebriate me;
water from the side of Christ, wash me;
passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me;
within your wounds hide me;
suffer me not to be separated from you;
from the malicious enemy defend me;
in the hour of my death call me,
and bid me come to you
that with your saints I may praise you
forever and ever. Amen.
Find more prayers in Common Prayer
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