Facebook. I never dreamed it would become such a crutch in my life.
It can be so useful and helpful... keeping in touch with dormmates and roommates (not to mention extended family) across the globe. Who is getting married... who is having a baby... who is trudging through a rough time... what God is doing... a funny from a little boy... praying for those weeping over a loss... a little girl and her pretty dress... all of these are amazing effects of an amazing bit of technology.
But how did it come to replace true friendships.
I find myself feeling the ache. Missing the camaraderie of a phone call... hearing the person's voice. I now have to settle for seeing words on a screen.
Gut honesty? I compulsively check who liked my status, feeling better about my day the more people there are. Silly, huh? Yeah and slightly pathetic.
I don't want to sound needy. No one really wants a friend long term who sucks the life right out of you with complaints and "tears on the shoulder" all the time. A friend listens and asks and doesn't thoughtlessly pour out, but what do you do when you feel like the seams that hold you together just won't take one more day of stuffing it all in.
I have fought the looping tape in my head that says I'm just not worth friendship and tried to count gifts in the ugly moments. Snowflakes swirling outside when the kids are swirling inside on a snow day. The giggle of a little boy, tickling his tummy, cradling him as his eyes close... even when nothing (absolutely nothing) got checked off on my list.
I want to believe that I'm okay with who I am and what I do everyday, but that horrid four letter word aims for my heart, FAIL, it labels me. Over and over.
I fight that too. I used to believe it because it seemed logical, but once I began to recite the Truth over and over - I could see it for what it was: a lie. Failing is something that I do. Sometimes. It is not who I am.
The Truth? I am loved. I am made new. My ugly old self who loves to control is gone and He has given me grace. I deserved none of it! That's why it's Grace.
If I could, I would bubble wrap my heart with grace so I would never forget what it feels like and how God sees me. Completely covered in His perfection.
My crazy children don't allow me to simply be still and reflect often but that's what I must do all the time - somehow.
I have to see grace covering every little thing... even the ugly. Even Facebook. It is grace to me. But it is not a substitute for "feeling good about myself" in other people's eyes.
The only Person who I must see myself through is Jesus.
The culmination of this begs one very important question: Whatcha gon do 'bout it?
The last few weeks, I've tossed around an idea that will help my heart see and feel the grace that I know is there. It may seem legalistic to some but that's okay. :) I know God is asking this of me.
I will spend time looking through His eyes first before I spend any time seeing through anyone else's. No Facebook (or Pintrest or anything else) until I sit myself down at His feet and am reminded of who I am: a daughter of the King of Kings covered in His rich robes of grace.
As I put one foot forward in this dance, thank you for this little space and for honesty. :)
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Joseph Kony and Kony2012 - The Situation
In case you happen to reside under a rock and don't know what Kony2012 and
Invisible Children refer to - let me give you a synopsis. Believe me, I looked
at many websites and waded through a bunch of superfluous junk to boil it down
to just these details.
The "Kony" part of the Kony2012 refers to a man by the name of Joseph Kony. He is a Ugandan warlord whom the International Criminal Court has indicted for crimes against humanity and has issued a warrant for his arrest.
How they plan on actually enforcing the warrants is anyone's guess. The ICC
doesn't have a police force so the only way they can get the fugitive to the Hague is
to convince the country that he is currently hiding in to hand him over. But,
for the purposes of this conversation, that is beside the point.
What in the world has he done, you might ask? He started out as a good guy - helping the Army of Uganda, but he turned renegade when he saw the power and status he could acquire for himself. So, he's been waging a war with his army called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) for a couple decades by abducting children from their homes at night, forcing them to kill their parents and become his soldiers. He forces girls to become his sex slaves. His reign of terror has diminished steadily since 2005. Although, sources are mixed on that point.
So how does Invisible Children
come into the picture?
It began in 2005 when 3 friends took a trip to Africa to create a documentary and ended up producing a film that showed the plight of the children of Uganda under Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army.
Invisible Children is based in San Diego, CA and has several programs that according to their website restore and rebuild the communities torn apart by war.
This charity has come under fire as of late regarding their financial statement and the fact that their resources were going towards a taking down a warlord who was no longer in power instead of a greater amount being given to the children on the ground in Uganda. Also, Jason Russell recently had a public nervous breakdown resulting from the sweeping criticism of him and his film and charity.
The 2012 part? Well, at first glance it looks like it's referring to the year we are currently in, however, it's been given more meaning that just that. The film creators identified 20 CultureMakers (Angelina Jolie, Bill Gates, George Clooney, Oprah...) and 12 PolicyMakers (George W Bush, Condolezza Rice, Mitt Romney, John Kerry...) to target via Twitter and Facebook to bring awareness from the sidelines to the trending topic list. Instead of seeing Facebook as simply a fad of this current culture, they decided to use it as a tool to create change.
Their film - Kony2012 - went viral. It is well done, excellently edited and very very moving. However, it's biggest criticism is that it's selective with the facts. It highlights only the ones it wants you to know but leaves out others that don't appear pertinent.
This situation is as troubling as the questions it produces...
Can a war be stopped with popular opinion from Facebook?
Why are all these young people up in arms about this... moral objection or the latest craze? or both? Moral objection isn't cool when someone says marriage is only between one man and one woman.
Are we as adamant about stopping the genocide occurring every second of every minute of every day here on our land?
How far should we go in pursuing a corrupt man and bringing him to justice? What about the many other corrupt men in power around this globe? What do we do about them?
What if that pursuit costs American soldiers lives?
Always more questions than answers...
The "Kony" part of the Kony2012 refers to a man by the name of Joseph Kony. He is a Ugandan warlord whom the International Criminal Court has indicted for crimes against humanity and has issued a warrant for his arrest.
 |
| Joseph Kony |
What in the world has he done, you might ask? He started out as a good guy - helping the Army of Uganda, but he turned renegade when he saw the power and status he could acquire for himself. So, he's been waging a war with his army called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) for a couple decades by abducting children from their homes at night, forcing them to kill their parents and become his soldiers. He forces girls to become his sex slaves. His reign of terror has diminished steadily since 2005. Although, sources are mixed on that point.
 |
| Courtesy of invisiblechildren.com |
It began in 2005 when 3 friends took a trip to Africa to create a documentary and ended up producing a film that showed the plight of the children of Uganda under Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army.
Invisible Children is based in San Diego, CA and has several programs that according to their website restore and rebuild the communities torn apart by war.
This charity has come under fire as of late regarding their financial statement and the fact that their resources were going towards a taking down a warlord who was no longer in power instead of a greater amount being given to the children on the ground in Uganda. Also, Jason Russell recently had a public nervous breakdown resulting from the sweeping criticism of him and his film and charity.
The 2012 part? Well, at first glance it looks like it's referring to the year we are currently in, however, it's been given more meaning that just that. The film creators identified 20 CultureMakers (Angelina Jolie, Bill Gates, George Clooney, Oprah...) and 12 PolicyMakers (George W Bush, Condolezza Rice, Mitt Romney, John Kerry...) to target via Twitter and Facebook to bring awareness from the sidelines to the trending topic list. Instead of seeing Facebook as simply a fad of this current culture, they decided to use it as a tool to create change.
 |
| Courtesy of invisiblechildren.com |
Their film - Kony2012 - went viral. It is well done, excellently edited and very very moving. However, it's biggest criticism is that it's selective with the facts. It highlights only the ones it wants you to know but leaves out others that don't appear pertinent.
This situation is as troubling as the questions it produces...
Can a war be stopped with popular opinion from Facebook?
Why are all these young people up in arms about this... moral objection or the latest craze? or both? Moral objection isn't cool when someone says marriage is only between one man and one woman.
Are we as adamant about stopping the genocide occurring every second of every minute of every day here on our land?
How far should we go in pursuing a corrupt man and bringing him to justice? What about the many other corrupt men in power around this globe? What do we do about them?
What if that pursuit costs American soldiers lives?
Always more questions than answers...
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