I have to admit that in this temporary new normal of ‘social distancing,’ my daily life here since we’ve recently moved to a new state doesn’t actually look terrifically different. I’m prone to hermit-like tendencies anyhow, and I really have to fight against them, especially right after a move when it just takes so long to finally feel like this is home. And I actually like having my family home during the day, and find all those memes complaining about having the kids home to be pretty sad. So, honestly, being told I can’t go out and be social at first feels kind of ok. That’s on the surface. Deeper down, I’m feeling a little blue and having a hard time concentrating.
As I mentioned many months ago in my piece on social media wisdom, we are embodied people. We need other people. We are social beings, by the design of our Creator. Even those of us who are more introverted by nature NEED other people. We need to not be isolated for extended periods. When we learned that for the foreseeable future we will not be able to meet together, in person, with our church, this feels so wrong and sad and depressing. Sundays, and my Wednesday morning Bible study, and Wednesday evening choir practice some weeks might be the only meaningful, rich contact I get to have with anyone outside my immediate family. I’m still finding my way here, and I really need those connections. We obey this temporary disruption because of love for our neighbors and respect for our government and seeing the wisdom of ‘flattening the curve,’ but it hurts. It’s lonely. And meeting via live stream just is not the same. It is flat and cold and distant. But, at a time like this, it is so much better than nothing and I’m so thankful for the labor of love going into making it happen.
However, all that said, I’m thankful we have the technology to at least meet through live stream, and emails, and Zoom meetings. Imagine how lonely it would be with no contact at all. I’m thankful for our pastors and leaders who are lovingly reaching out in all the ways they can to check in with the flock and keep us informed. (My church is doing a much better job of this than the local school system at the moment, by the way. But I won’t digress with that gripe here.)
In thinking of our social nature and how much more fulfilling it is to meet face-to-face and in person, I’m seeing so much benefit and, yet, at the same time, so much that is just not good about social media. Just yesterday, my daughter had a video chat with several friends from our former church in Texas who called her, and that was so refreshing for her to hear from her dear friends in that way. In times like this when we can’t be together out of love for our neighbor and wanting to promote the well-being of others, it’s kind of a life line to be able to text, call, Facebook, and connect with others through social media. There is much that is encouraging and full of truth being shared. I’m encouraged with how much good Bible teaching is being shared as all of our churches are by necessity needing to share more online content. And I have to say, some of y’all are just flat out, laugh-out-loud funny with the memes going around that help us not to take ourselves so seriously. But as much good as there is, it seems like the bad gets amplified, as well. SO much misinformation, conspiracy craziness, dangerous lack of understanding, and flat out anxiety is spread through these formats. And Twitter, oh wowza, what a dumpster fire that can be sometimes. People seem to be so quick to assume the worst and wow, the comment threads - it is not a medium geared towards constructive discussion, and it shows. Same with the NextDoor app - it can be incredibly toxic and disturbing to realize how angry and quick to assume the worst many of your neighbors are. I am much less paranoid when I stay away from reading too many posts and threads there. I also find that since I’m home with no where to go, it’s far too easy to fall into the rabbit hole and scroll, scroll, scroll, reading things over and over and becoming frustrated and anxious.
Do yourself a favor. Set a limit on when/how much social media and news watching is helpful for you, then put it away. Fill your mind with whatever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, worthy of praise. Take time to meditate on God's word. Read good books. Find a new hobby or enjoy an old one. Take a walk outside and enjoy the fresh air and the birds and the beautiful blooming things (even if it means your allergies kick in). Enjoy this unexpected quality time with your family and enforced period of unexpected rest and thank God for His mercy and grace, His sovereignty over all things. He is good and He is in control.
Anyway, all that to say, let’s use this unprecedented time of uncertainty to leverage social media for good. Be a truthteller. Check your sources before you share things. When you share information - don’t be an alarmist, try to be helpful. Be an encourager, share things that are truthful and uplift. Be kind in your comments, and try to assume the best when other people react to this strangest of times differently. And take healthy breaks away from it, too.
And in trying to get out of my slump and difficulty concentrating, I hope to use this forced time of rest and downtime to try to blog a little more frequently. That’s not a promise, but I do intend to try.
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