One of the first things every morning is to browse the newspapers. Still groggy, I was drawn in this morning by Elizabeth Bernstein’s title, “Are We All Braggarts Now?” “Consider your Facebook updates,” Ms. Bernstein begins. ‘Best gift ever from the best husband ever.’ ‘Swam 30 minutes at a very fast time despite the large amount of Chardonnay served to me on the plane last night.’ ‘Got my first royalty check for my book!’ ‘Sunset sail. Turned into a moonlight sail. Shooting stars everywhere…Perfect.’ A benign reading,” Ms. Bernstein says, “would be that these are just typical daily updates. But folks, this is bragging, whether you recognize it or not. And it’s out of control.”
I don’t do much on Facebook, although I know people who do. I put these Minutes out; am I bragging when I write about the grandkids? Maybe. The article totally captured me with this: “Boasting isn’t just a problem on the Internet. In a society of unrelenting competition—where reality-show contestants duke it out for the approval of aging celebrities and pastors have publicists—is it any wonder we market ourselves relentlessly?” (Wall Street Journal, D1)
Ms. Bernstein is waking me up to reality, and her article reminds me of what I read the other day in St. Augustine’s “Confessions.” “Ambition seeks honor and glory, whereas only You, Lord, should be honored above all, and glorified forever. The powerful man seeks to be feared, because of his cruelty; but who ought really to be feared but God only? The enticements of the lustful claim the name of love; and yet nothing is more enticing than Your love, nor is anything loved more healthfully than Your truth, bright and beautiful above all. Indeed, ignorance and foolishness themselves go masked under the names of simplicity and innocence; yet there is no being that has true simplicity like Yours, and none is innocent as You are. Thus it is that by a sinner’s own deeds he is himself harmed. Thus the soul commits fornication when she is turned from You, and seeks apart from You what she cannot find pure and untainted until she returns to You.” (Confessions, 2.6.13-14)
Did you slow down when St. Augustine said, “There is no being that has true simplicity like Yours”? He’s referring to the Bible’s teaching that God is a pure being. God is pure love. God is pure justice. God is pure contentment, and so on. We who are complex and live such complicated lives cannot comprehend the pure simplicity of God. When we do so much of our posting, our self-serving publicity, our getting the last word, our bragging, our fretting over our own worthiness, all of that, we show how far we are from God and the Lord Jesus whom we profess to follow. St. Augustine’s oft-quoted line reveals the deeper reason why we often use social media as we do. “Restless is our heart until it comes to rest in You.” (1.1.1)
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