". . . little shall I grace my cause

In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience,

I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver . . ."

(William Shakespeare's Othello, I.iii.88-90)

Friday, January 21, 2011

For What It's Worth

My previous post on cyberspace was intended to be descriptive, not prescriptive. I read an article and then did some thinking out loud about my own approach to some of the issues the article raised. Everything in my blog post was personal to me, outlining only what I am comfortable with in my own online interactions. It was not intended to be instructive for anyone else. So in case I communicated otherwise, let me now be clear: God did not say, "Thou shalt not vague-book" or "Thou shalt not text" or "Thou shalt not chat" and neither did I. What I did say is that for various reasons these things don't work for me. That doesn't mean I would presume to tell others to stop doing them. I know people who have the rule of not posting anything remotely political or religious on Facebook because they don't want to risk offending or angering someone or opening themselves up to those sorts of discussions. That is fine--it is what they are comfortable with. For them to have that rule for themselves does not mean that it applies to me, and I don't take it as such.

As long as you are not breaking one of the Biblical Ten Commandments, you are free to do, without guilt, whatever you please, in cyberspace and elsewhere. If I seemed to imply otherwise, I am sorry.

2 comments:

Leah said...

I just read that last post and appreciated it immensely. Electronic devices, to me, are like "tools". They can be used for great good or great harm. It all depends on the "purpose". I, like you, have received much encouragement and wisdom from different articles and personal thoughts that people have posted and shared on their blogs/websites. Very profitable exchanges taking place through the internet, that were not possible before.

I also know, like you, that the people right in front of me, in this house, and my face to face friends need me to be "present" in body AND MIND. When I find myself tempted to be elsewhere in cyberspace, I must discipline and train my thoughts (again) to be about my proper vocation in the proper time. (I live in a constant state of repentance when it comes to my failings and temptations in this area ;)
There is a time for every purpose under heaven.

For this moment I'm glad I read your blog :)

(p.s. I don't even know how to text, and hope I won't ever have to... Then again, a worthwhile and fruitful purpose would make all the difference.)

Cheryl said...

Thank you for the comment, Leah. Sounds like we are in similar places on this topic!