For Wilshire Baptist Church
I find myself in a challenging time. Late in my professional career I’ve been given opportunities to share some thoughts and meditations and it’s been a blessing to me in many ways. It has stretched me as a writer and challenged me as an introvert. It has prompted me to examine my faith – to take it apart like a mechanic who dismantles an engine and inspects the parts. Much of my writing has been “reports” on what I am learning.
The challenge, however, is that during the time I have been doing this, social media has sprung up as a powerful force in our world. I don’t know if historians looking back will equate it with Gutenberg’s printing press, but comparisons may be appropriate. While the printing press put more information into the hands of the masses, social media has made everyone a Gutenberg with the potential of reaching a global audience.
That means lots of people are talking and they’re talking about things I’m interested in and have opinions about. Through their posts I’ve discovered that some of my friends and followers and those I follow are in stark disagreement with me on many issues. There’s nothing wrong with that; disagreement is natural and healthy and can lead to new ideas and solutions to problems. But social media doesn’t always promote healthy dialogue; conversations too often devolve into angry shouting. The worst is Twitter because the 140-character limit doesn’t allow for context and shading. And the tweets and retweets string out forever with total strangers engaged in verbal fistfights. Everyone is shouting and nobody is listening.
Some days it takes every ounce of restraint I can muster to not react to something I read that I believe is over-the-top, outrageous exaggeration or that I just disagree with strongly. I quite literally have to step away from the computer or turn off my device to resist the urge to say something I will regret almost immediately. I’ve been so tempted in recent weeks to shout back that I’ve unfollowed some people on Twitter and Facebook.
My problem is, this little light of mine – as the old song goes – can be as gaudy and ugly as anyone’s. So I’m keeping the lamp shade on, not because I’m better than anyone but because I have an unwritten contract with myself and the people who read my words that I won’t spread the negativity. I have an opportunity to share God’s love, and it is so fragile. I could destroy it in an instant with a few careless words.
It’s the same with my other projects. Publishers and agents tell me the reading public wants a certain type of book. Some writers shift gears quickly and start writing for those audiences, but I’ve decided I’m going to write what God has put in me and not what the market wants to pull out of me. If that means I write a story and only two people read it, then that’s the way it will be. I’m not going to be edgy, profane or trendy because it sells. I’m going to be quiet, thoughtful and deliberative because that is what I think I hear God saying through me.
There’s a place in our public dialogue for well-informed people with well-crafted words to shine light on injustice, prejudice and other ills. History is full of strong men and women, liberals and conservatives, all colors and shapes, who have helped us move forward by illuminating our failings and weaknesses. You know their names. Their big lights shine brightly for all the right reasons. Meanwhile, many of us need to practice restraint or at least stop and think before we speak instead of shouting at each other from the loud left or the raucous right.
Anyone care to join me in the civil center?