Pentecost and Social Media: An Opportunity for Communion, Activism or an End to Real Human Relationships?

According to a recent study, 1 out of 4 people use social media worldwide. The fast growing phenomenon has taken the world by surprise. Created only in 2004, Facebook has become the newest and most popular social media network and also become a powerful wealthy corporation estimated to be worth nearly 8 billion dollars. But, with the fast rapid integration of technology and social media, countless studies and research are pointing out the effects and impact that social media has on individuals and groups alike.

There seems to be several diagnosis or social problems that describe the use of social media. Many studies point out at the sense of belonging that social media creates. Whether it is in facebook, twitter, pinterest or instagram, upgrading status, publicizing photos or tweeting, creates a sense of participation worldwide. Participation that everyone seems to be seeking desperately due to the great inheritance of past movements that left humanity feeling alienated and desolated. The existential movement raised questions of individual meaning and existence and has emphasized the personal will rather than the integration of a group, the industrial revolution alienated the individual from purpose, the economic exploitation of capitalism has alienated the individual from his work and has maximized the power of individual choice leaving people wondering if they have any real impact or meaning in the world. With the turn of the century no one predicted the great need human beings will face as suddenly corporations and technological advances were making the news instead of their personal opinions. Social media seems to be a sort of cheap remedy to this global disease. Through social media, people regain a sense of meaning and participation--by having their 'voice' be seen or heard across the globe. While it provides an artificial sense of meaning, it also provides for a sense of communion. People find a sense of brotherhood in social media that they find in social-life, whether it is rooting for your soccer team, praying for a world-cause, or supporting a political agenda--social media unifies people of similar minds and interests.

This takes us to what some people would argue is the most important reason of social media--activism. The revolution in Egypt, one of the first of its kind was predominantly achieved through social media. By the

spread of 'the word of mouth' or to be more precise, the rapid spread of facebook comments and tweets, created awareness and a social movement that eventually became the revolution. From hashtags that show empathy with 200 Nigerian families that miss their abducted daughters to the rapid spread of campaigns seeking to popularize a political vote, social media not only informs but it brings about support. While many also argue that social media desensitize people from events, as cases are becoming frequent where bystanders choose to record an emergency rather than take action,  the power for spreading communal support for a cause is clearly larger.

Research shows however, that the greatest challenge for the use of social media is the disconnection that human beings have in interpersonal experiences. Millenia are already showing a great deficit in social skills--not being able to communicate clearly when it comes to doing it face to face due to the lack of verbal communication. If communication becomes primarily a written medium, researchers say that we are creating a society that would be brilliant in explaining written complex ideas and helpless in communicating a simple greeting face to face.

The Church just celebrated Pentecost. As described by the Church, this is the event where the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles as promised by Jesus Christ as they were hiding from the jews in fear of persecution. It marks the birthday of the Church because it signifies the beginning of the proclaiming of Jesus Christ to all the nations. So what does Pentecost have to do with social media? It turns out, a great deal. Whatever the position is on social media and technology in general, it cannot be ignored that it has grown to be a global culture. You embrace technology or you are left behind in the world. Social media has become a great medium that unifies the world--and therefore a big metaphor for the Holy Spirit if applied in the right manner.

Scripture says that after Peter was touched by the Holy Spirit he no longer feared the jews and proclaimed Jesus Christ that very same day and three thousand people were converted. Today, with social media--our post, photo, or tweet goes far beyond three thousand people in a matter of seconds. The question now is, do we seek for communion in God, seek justice through righteous activism or do we find ourselves losing our interpersonal humanness in the process?

Conventional Wisdom, Untold Truths or Psychological Jargon?

Why is it so hard to understand that you cannot change what happens to you, but only how you feel, think and choose to respond to whatever is it that happens to you?

This is a truth hard to accept throughout life, but why? Simply because of one attribute to the mind we cannot unwire or change—that is that we are designed to seek, we are wired to want to know. In other words, we are conscious and intelligent beings. Yes, our brain works in such a way, that after posing a question, we have to somewhat, almost magically, try to have an answer for it. Even if the questions are ridiculous, fictional or unpleasant. It is much easier to please the mind with an answer we might not even believe fully, than to leave a question unattended in our minds. Of course, we also do achieve truths and do find answers that are in fact true, but in most of our limited experience and much more limited knowing, we are really deceiving ourselves. So, how exactly is our mind responsible for making us believe that we are our how we feel?

When we experience pain and suffering for instance, it is far much easier to directly correlate the pain we feel inside with an event that we have no control over and although this is true to a certain degree, we often surrender our humanity and dignity in doing so. Yes, certain external events have the power to trigger emotions. The betrayal of a friend, the death of a loved one, the disillusionment of a dream for instance, all of these can rapidly trigger negative emotions associated with those circumstances—but they can never determine how we feel. In other words, they can trigger sadness, but they cannot make us feel sad. It is healthy to mourn a love one for instance, but it is important to recognize our conscious self going through an emotion and not being that particular emotion. Our minds however, make the correlation stronger. They make the bond between an external event and the feeling you experience—the reality. Why? Because the mind’s ultimate concern is to understand and be pleased with any answer. So when we ask, why do I feel sad? Or why does this happen to me? Or Why is this so hard? Referring to the loss of a loved one—the answer the mind naturally wants to give is to go back to the bond. It hurts because I am my pain and my pain is me. In fact, the more the mind asserts the external circumstances as your own experience, the more it is pleased to assert a particular feeling. This is why when we experience intense joy or sadness we hold the events surrounding those feelings as either the source of happiness or the source of all trauma in life. While nothing can be further from the truth, it is extremely hard and a lifelong goal, to believe and train your mind different.

We take these external circumstances and sometimes we go further we them. Not only do we allow our feelings to override our fully conscious ability to choose them, but then we define ourselves by those feelings that originate in circumstances we do not have any power over! This is crazy yet we all do it. To be fired from your job just because the company had to make cuts to still be profitable, makes us feel sad, hopeless and incompetent. But then, not only are we overwhelmed by these feelings, but our minds asks the question, well why did this happen? And your mind naturally starts to conceive of an answer just to please its hunger for knowing. So we tell ourselves that we are losers, incompetents and mediocre and that is why we were fired. Feelings while triggered by external factors have the power to create a belief sustained by the rational mind which seeks to know and comprehend at all cost. Again, the unsatisfied mind will not rest until it has an answer whether this one is factual or not it does not matter. You can conceive the same scenario happening in a different way. When your mind asks why was I fired? You can say a million other things to satisfy the mind like, ‘It was time for me to take on a different task,’ or ‘I deserved better and something bigger is waiting.’

The empowerment comes from knowing two truths. First, in the peaceful recognition that we are not what happens to us. We cannot control external circumstances and therefore they do not define us. Consequently, our feelings are only manifestations of who we are—but not in their entirety. That is, they provide information about us, about our self—but they do not define the self. Second, in understanding how the mind works. The mind, by nature always wanting to know has to be trained to ask the right questions and also be trained to be in peace with not knowing. A life task—for sure. What are the right questions? Critical and complex questions with specific goals. When experiencing guilt, shame, sadness or animosity, to ask not why do you feel the way you feel (this might have a quick answer) but to ask instead what can I do so that this anger, confusion, guilt or shame doesn’t take over me? What can I do so that I am in charge of my anger and can funnel it in a productive way? To know that not only does your anger not deny who you are, instead that it provides information about you, but also in determining what and how you can do things to convert an unwanted experience into a transformative one.

the Resurrection.

Once I heard a theologian pose the question, 'Would Christianity have had the impact it did on the world without the resurrection of Jesus?' and then he added, 'Would you be a Christian had Jesus not resurrected?'

Every Easter Sunday, almost inevitable I think of these questions. After all, that is the most important event that sets Christianity apart from any other tradition or religion. The fact that we believe that Jesus Christ came back from the dead. That he did so in a real way, in flesh and bone and dined in presence of the apostles. It is often simple to believe in the resurrection in a very non-physical type of way. At least, for a while I used to reconcile the very difficult idea of Jesus resurrecting. I often thought about resurrection as the overcoming of obstacles, pain and suffering that is embodied in the cross, and the willingness of the spirit to not only endure trial but overcome it. In this way, we can actually relate to the resurrection many times during our life.
 Whenever life becomes difficult, and we know it does often, whenever we get through these hard times we often think and feel as if we had resurrected. As if we are a new creature that thinks and feels different about the world or a particular state of affairs. But, the question the theologian I heard many years ago was posing was a very direct one--not metaphorical or symbolic at all.

I wrestle with the question because I do not seem to be so caught up on the fact that Jesus came back from the dead. Shocking! Yes. I do not entertain whether the project of Christianity had taken off and been such a success without the resurrection story, but with the part of whether I would still follow Jesus even if that part of the story was missing. If Jesus had died on the cross and that had been the end, whether I would be Christian at all. I know that logically I could not entertain this question without first acknowledging first that Christianity became a success historically because of the resurrection, but granting that this could have happen without the resurrection, whether I would still follow Jesus.

Part of what makes Christianity so appealing in fact, is that it cheers for the underdog. Maybe this is why the project of Christianity would still have been successful even without the resurrection of Jesus Christ. How much more dramatic would have been if Jesus, had died and not been a 'winner' by resurrecting? Would his followers be still more detach from the 'heaven in their minds' and live a life simply without any reward by following a messiah that gave his life and did not receive anything in exchange? I do not know, but it is nice to think of this 'type' of Christianity.

So, to go back to the question, I would like to believe I would still be Christian had 'those pages' from the gospels had gone missing at some point in history. Why? Because despite of the resurrection I find in the man of Jesus Christ a person that is not only worth imitating and following, but one that speaks with an authority that makes the kingdom of heaven a possibility. A man that indeed I know is God-made-man. A God-man that goes under the cross for the sins of humanity and who speaks of the love of the Father as the one of the Progidical-Son parable. Perhaps, a God that manifests himself this way does not need to resurrect to show humanity the nature of his being, which also, is inevitable to love in return.

Noah: A Film Review.

There has been a lot of controversy around the recent Hollywood film 'Noah' concerning the inaccuracies of the film regarding the ancient bible story. For many who consider the interpretation of biblical texts literally, the movie depicts a story that is not only inaccurate but that as a consequence one that threatens the understanding and passing down of a holy story.


The film directed by Darren Aronofsky starting Russell Crowe as a stubborn Noah has a double spin of Hollywood's over the top fantasy with fallen angels made of huge beings made of rock and a philosophical and theological approach where Noah struggles with the will of God contrary to his conscience. In addition, the film tries to make of an ancient story a contemporary and relevant narrative.
For some, keeping the story accurate to the text is the one single most important fact. The argument of course, that the bible is the literal word of God and any description that shows otherwise is altering the truth of the biblical text. This argument, dismisses the possibility of holding down to truths that are metaphorical. The story can contain a message which holds to be true despite of whether every fact within the story actually happened.
Having said that, it is extremely difficult to understand the theological truths of God in the story of Noah. A world that has gone awry and as a consequence God decides to punish all alike by starting a flood that would wipe all of humanity except for one family. What can we preserve from this?
The film adds a twist to the original version. Spoiler alert, it is in Noah's hands to choose whether or not to continue humanity where one of his children marries and conceive two daughters. Noah still in the ark, having set in his mind that God has decided to sweep humanity out of the world because of their wickedness has to choose of whether or not to let the newborns live.
Noah, personifying the will of God in the story--chooses life. He chooses life over death, he chooses a new beginning over the end of all, he chooses restoration over destruction, he chooses opportunity over resignation, he chooses love over accountability, he chooses mercy over judgement and perhaps, this is the message to be kept form the story of Noah: A God who acts the way Noah did.

Lent: A Personal Journey

It is that time again, when the faithful return to church to get ashes and are told to repent. It is the time when millions of people around the world are told to pray, fast and to give alms for forty-days. Yes, it is the time when networks start showing movies about Jesus and his ministry and how he died on the cross. Its the time of Lent.

I think back of what this all meant and how it changed for me as time went on. As a cradled Catholic I grew up thinking of lent as the prohibition of meat on Fridays and the complete silence during the Tridium Paschal leading to Easter and what seemed as a time of prohibition of fun altogether. All this meant was that I had to find ways to keep myself occupied at home, to refrain from asking to be outdoors and to try to be quiet the best I could. Lent wasn't fun. In fact, when the time approach, I would dread the idea of it. People were not talking to each other, fun wasn't allowed and to top it all I had to confess my misbehavior to a priest!

I remember the day that my conception of Lent started changing. Around the time I could ask questions and not be afraid of being told that the Church knew what was best for me or that I had to do certain things a certain way because the priest or Church said so. Around the age of 12, when I was doing my first-communion and I was immersed in Catechism I would ask, why do we even celebrate Lent? It made little sense to me. Christmas on the other hand was a feast! Everybody likes new born babies and if they're healthy it is a reason to celebrate. That is why we celebrate birthdays! Then it hit me, I was reminded that we also remember the people that left, we also remember our love ones that have died. We celebrate by remembering them. Lent was celebrated for this reason. It all was troubling for me, after all, the concept of celebrating death for a kid is somewhat troublesome or a contradiction almost.

Then, at some point. I was told of the importance of the Liturgical Calendar. In the same way that we all have days that are very important for us and we keep them in mind, graduations, anniversaries, accomplishments, etc. in the same way, the Church celebrates and remembers those days of the life of Christ. At this point, Lent made a little more sense. By now, I was told of the association of the death of Jesus himself for my sins and for my salvation, and so it made more sense to be respectful and mournful during this time. I would still dread the time, but at least now it made sense so I would not complain about it.

Many years later I would have a personal religious experience during my confirmation at Thursday of Passover in the beginning of the Paschal Tridium and once again my understanding and experience of lent would change. At this point, I was a fully grown adult. Now, lent would no longer be something that didn't make sense, but now it was personal. I celebrated it not only because it had to do with the life of Christ, but because it had to do with my life!

Yet, my experience and contemplation at that time would be still incomplete as it is still incomplete now. Many masses and sermons later I kept pushing, trying to make a connection between my personal experience of lent, my personal understanding and the world where I lived. I wanted this all to come together alive in the community of believers. Sure enough, what I was seeking came to be realized yet again. I approached lent once again through understanding, through time and history, through all the people who have celebrated it over centuries, through the culture barriers it breaks. This worldview was pointing at what I would referred to as a mystery beyond time and space for a lack of a better expression. A celestial community that transcends history and time and yet a story that speaks to the very here and now that we experience. Lent was a story about the redemption of human beings, that takes place now. It was about the universal reality that grounds all men to the same fate--death. Yet, lent told me that it doesn't end there. Yes, this was after some philosophy courses had shaped my vocabulary.

Today, I now live lent as the reality that speaks of the redemption of people. In all ways that people can be saved. We are called to enter these wounds, which are the wounds of Christ Himself and in doing so to experience resurrection. The brokenness of the world reminds us of the cross. The lack of charity in our own hearts reminds us of the man who gave it all. We celebrate because these wounds do not define us. We celebrate because we can overcome them. We celebrate because death is not the end. We celebrate because we are together in this journey.