{"id":6187,"date":"2017-03-21T08:03:34","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T13:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=6187"},"modified":"2017-03-14T14:13:29","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T19:13:29","slug":"march-26-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/march-26-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"March 26, 2017–How Do You “See”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuhina Rasche, San Carlos, CA<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warm-up Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an age filled with distractions and doubts, what does it mean to truly \u201csee\u201d one another?<\/p>\n

How Do You “See”?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to lie; I probably spend way much more time on my phone than I should. If I want to check the weather, there\u2019s the weather app. If I want to know directions to travel from point A to point B, there\u2019s the map app. I even have my Bible app and Lutheran Confessions app if I need to look up something theological at a moment\u2019s notice. I have instant access to the world through the information that resides in my smart phone.<\/p>\n

The instant gratification of having access to people and information has increased drastically since I was younger. It was only 15 years ago that I had to wait a long time for pages on the Internet to load, or for someone to pick up the phone and talk to them, ort to get a ride to the bookstore to pick up a book, or for the day of the week and time when my favorite television show would be aired. How we engage the world has drastically changed over a time. With that comes growing pains and learning how to live in a new way. Sometimes seeing the world in a new way leads to bumps and bruises. For example, I missed a sidewalk curb because I was texting and walking. \u00a0This is just one of many dangerous scenarios which occur when people pay to much attention to their phone screens.<\/p>\n

That misstep led me to remember an article<\/a> about multiple (and even dangerous) scenarios that occurred when people paid too much attention to their phone screens and not enough to the immediate physical world around them. We can easily look at information, but fail to \u201csee\u201d the world around us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There\u2019s tension between our online and fleshy lives. We are embodied people, created in God\u2019s holy image. We are also called to be in Christian community, to be the resurrected body of Christ.\u00a0 Social media and online spaces are connecting Christian\"\"<\/a> community in new and exciting ways (like interacting with Faith Lens). Part of my life is lived out digitally; this is where I feel the deepest theological connection to a community that represents the resurrected Christ. My church meets every Thursday night on Twitter for #SlateSpeak to engage in deep and meaningful theological conversations. I may not get to see this community face-to-face on a weekly basis, but I get to \u201csee\u201d their passion for Christ.<\/p>\n

I value the connections I\u2019ve made over social media, but at the same time, I wonder how to reconnect and engage with the world which lies beyond the screen of my phone. I am experiencing the tension of seeing the world in new and different ways, but at the same time, I wonder if I truly \u201csee\u201d my neighbor in the midst of additional noise and distractions. Do I see the beauty of the image of God in my neighbor in online and in embodied spaces? Do I deeply engage with the communities of faith in which I participate, or do I see things at a surface level, unsure of asking hard questions, and taking the risk to see my interactions within God\u2019s community in new and challenging ways?<\/p>\n

Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n