Saturday, June 19, 2021

OUR SELFIE WORLD

 

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

A week ago one of our lay Benedictine Oblates told me of her surprise when visiting Madrid's beautiful Plaza Mayor a few years ago: everybody had their selfie sticks out and were so intent on taking their own pictures that they were practically poking each other, and hardly looking at the beautiful buildings.

That image has stayed with me, and in fact has grown into the following scene: The entire world is crowded with people, all taking selfies. They're bumping into each other, accidentally poking those around them with their selfie sticks, heedlessly backing up to the edges of cliffs and shark tanks. They are all so focused on looking at themselves that they don't notice the beautiful scenery or the needs of the brothers and sisters around them. 

In a selfie I'm always in the foreground. "This is me near the Eiffel Tower." "This is me, with the Swiss Alps in the background." "This is me with the sunset behind me." This makes me ask what what happens when I take that mentality into my relationship with Christ. What sort of pictures do I get if I bring my selfie stick to my bible meditation? "Oh, here's one of me in Jericho. The guy in the back there who's healing the blind man, that's Jesus." Tomorrow's gospel story would give me "This is me sitting in the boat during the storm. You can't see Jesus in this one -- he's sitting behind me in the stern." Or, on a more spiritual level, "Here's one of me asking Jesus for forgiveness." 

Somehow my selfie stick seems to be growing more and more irrelevant, and worse than useless because it's completely misleading, forcing me into a view of reality that's totally backwards. By definition my "self" becomes the center, the very purpose of a selfie. Did you ever meet somebody who was a walking selfie, who thought they were the center of the universe? (Besides a two-year old, who, we hope, will quickly grow out of the "terrible twos.") 

Sometimes, on a bad day, I start to feel as if the world is crowded with people brandishing selfie sticks and completely oblivious to everyone and everything around them, including everything within their heart or soul. But then I start of think about my brother monks, my loving relatives and friends, the donors and the faculty and staff of our school whose generosity always humbles me. There's not a selfie stick in the whole crowd. That's enough to encourage me. I keep trying to learn from their example, and to live in a world where things are in the right perspective: God is all in all, and Christ's infinite, unconditional love permeates and rules everything, including especially me, my "self."  



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