The ego is the part of us that loves power. It is the part that loves to be seen, recognized, praised, and adored. Facebook provides a powerful platform for this. It provides a platform by which every word, picture, or thought I have can be seen, praised, liked. As a result, I begin to seek this. But then it doesnt just stay in the cyber world. I begin even to live my life with this visibility in mind. Suddenly, I live every experience, every photo, every thought, as if its being watched, because in the back of my mind Im thinking, Ill put it on Facebook. This creates a very interesting state of being, almost a constant sense that I am living my life on display. I become ever conscious of being watched, because everything can be put up on Facebook for others to see and comment on. More importantly, it creates a false sense of self-importance, where every insignificant move I make is of international importance. Soon I become the focus, the one on display. The message is: I am so important. My life is so important. Every move I make is so important. The result becomes an even stronger me-focused world, where I am at the center. As it turns out, this result is diametrically opposed to the Reality of spiritual existence. The goal of that existence is to realize the Truth of Gods greatness and my own insignificance and need before Him. The goal is to take myself out of the center and put Him there instead. But Facebook perpetuates the illusion of the exact opposite. It strengthens my belief that because of my own importance, every inconsequential move or thought should be on display. Suddenly what I ate for breakfast or bought at the grocery store is news important enough to publish. When I put up a picture, I wait for compliments; I wait for acknowledgement and recognition. With the number of likes or comments, even physical beauty becomes something that can now be quantified. When I put up a post, I wait for it to be liked. And I am ever conscious of -- and even compete in -- the number of friends I have. (Friends, here, is in quotation marks because many people dont know 80% of their friends on Facebook.) Facebook also strengthens another dangerous focus: the focus on other people, what theyre doing, what they like. What they think of me. Facebook feeds the preoccupation with others assessment of me. Soon, I enter the orbit of the creation. Inside that orbit, my definitions, my pain, my happiness, my self-worth, my success and my failure is determined by the creation. When I live in that orbit, I rise and fall with the creation. When the people are happy with me, Im up. When theyre not, I fall. Where I stand is defined by people. Im like a prisoner because I have given up the keys to my happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and disappointment to the people to hold. Once I enter and live in the orbit of the creation -- rather than the orbit of God -- I begin to use that currency. See, the currency of Gods orbit is: His pleasure or His displeasure, His reward or His punishment. But, the currency of the orbit of creation is: the praise and criticism of people. So, as I enter deeper and deeper into that orbit, I covet more and more of its currency, and I fear more and more of its loss. While Im playing Monopoly, for example, I covet more and more of its currency. And it feels great to be rich for a moment. But when the game is over, what can I buy in the Real world with Monopoly money? The human currency of praise is Monopoly money. huffingtonpost/yasmin-mogahed/facebook-the-hidden-dange_b_828928.html
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 09:52:18 +0000
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