I had the great pleasure of chatting with Jen Fulwiler on her Sirius XM radio show about my book, Detached.
It. Was. Hilarious. And Great. And all the wonderful things they say about Jen are true.
We talked about the evilness of yellow starbursts, the idea of resistance and how it holds us back from being awesome, and the fact that Jen loves her cell phone… a lot (but for good reasons!)
Listen in. You won’t be disappointed.
Also, if you want to take advantage of my pre-order bonus and get 3 books for the price of one, here’s how to do it.
You can preorder Detached right now either through Amazon or through my publisher, Our Sunday Visitor.
Once you receive your receipt, forward it to me at tj@dominicaninstitute.com and I’ll send you a free ecopy of my book, 30 Minutes: Less Cell Phone. More Beauty (Paperback: $8.99 on Amazon) as well as a copy of God’s Wifi: How to be Happier and Holier in the Digital Age.
Remember, this offer expires on Oct. 1st, so preorder you copy of Detached now before it is too late.
I ponder this question often: Would Jesus have tweeted?
There are two modes of thought; one is evangelistic, which would argue that he would have a twitter account, and the other is ascetic, which argues that he would not have tweeted. Let’s explore these two perspectives.
Before I go on, I don’t want to limit the conversation to merely Twitter. The entirety of social media is in play here, so we could make similar arguments as to whether Jesus would be on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc. The basic thought processes remain and differ only slightly based on delivery and reach regardless of which platform we are speaking of. Keep that in mind when you comment with your opinion in the comment box.
To Tweet is to Evangelize
When social media first came on the scene, pioneers for the “New Evangelization” as they were calling it in those days (and still, today) were adamant about the power of these platforms to reach large audiences in no time flat. Granted, the use of social media wasn’t the crux of the New Evangelization, but it was becoming to be a large part of it. I know because I was one of the zealots for this cause. Since the inception of these platforms, I’ve been intrigued by the fact that with a post, status update, or a 140 character limit tweet (which has been raised to 280 characters since I began in the “OG” days), I could preach Jesus Christ to the digital masses.’
It wasn’t just me. The laity soon hopped on board. Bishops began opening up accounts, even the Pope launched a daily twitter campaign in almost every major world language. The world was coming together through their screens, so it seemed logical that if you wanted to be a light for the world, you would need to have a digital presence. This was true especially for Bishops and Priests who, according to Pope Francis, must be “shepherds who smell like their sheep.”
The question is, would Jesus have done this if he were with us pre-resurrection in today’s world? Would he have opened a Twitter account and extended his evangelistic reach by limiting his words to 280 characters or less? Would he perform hashtag miracles? Would he “follow” only the downtrodden and neglected. Would he “direct message” his forgiveness to those most in need of his mercy?
The Modern Ascetic- Having No Tweeps
As you might have known, I gave up all social media a couple months back (save the basics of Facebook to remain connected with my family). It has been incredibly liberating. I log on to Facebook once or twice a day. I don’t miss Instagram. I really don’t miss Twitter.
So, you can say that I’m coming at this argument with a bias. I don’t think Jesus would have tweeted. I think it was in his nature to evangelize in the flesh. He was a people person when he preached, he needed to hear them, see them, touch them.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, one of the greatest evangelizers in the use of “old media” might even agree with me. He wrote,
“There are three intimacies in love: hearing, seeing, and touching. We could never love anyone unless we first know him or hear his voice. Next, after hearing a voice, one wishes to see the person. Vision is the second intimacy. Then finally, there comes the greatest of all intimacies, which only a few may enjoy, and that is the intimacy of touch. The Son of God made Man touched the leper in order to annihilate distance between the Giver and the receiver, between the Lover and the beloved, to prove sympathy by contact, to identify Himself with the woes of others….” Sheen adds, “Touch is the language of love” (source*).
You can’t touch through Twitter. You can’t “smell like the sheep” if you only communicate with them via status updates. You can’t heal through digital circuitry. You can’t have your sins forgiven in an online confessional nor receive Christ’s body and blood through Amazon prime’s guaranteed two-day delivery.
Nor will we ever do such things.
Catholics are different. We were made to contradict the currents of the world. We are God’s adopted children who listen when he tells us “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:5). We are the salt of the earth, a light in the darkness, a strange breed of humanity that believes that God was made flesh to save us, not made digital to evangelize us.
So, I can see it both ways. Social media provides us with a means to evangelize that far outshines the possibilities to reach a wider audience than any other time in the history of the world. However, digital asceticism seems to be a perfect means by which people can regain the spiritual connection that the distractions of social media have caused to their souls. I think that’s how Jesus would treat it today.
What do you think? Would Jesus have tweeted?
Let me know in the comment box. I am truly interested in your thoughts on this.
Also, my newest book, Detached, is available for pre-order. If you desire to strengthen your relationship with God by harnessing technology’s power over your life, I would highly recommend getting a copy. It is the only book in print that guides you toward freedom from screen distractions and peace in your soul.
*Sheen, Fulton J., Sympathy, Walk with God, Maco Magazine Corporation, 1965
I had an interesting conversation with my spiritual director last month. He is a word nerd, like me, and I had used the word “called” when referring to a vocation I am discerning. He stopped me in my tracks and said, “Called? Like Augustine who was literally dragged out of his home by the people who called him to be their bishop? Who called you?”
I was silent.
He went on. “I think the word you are looking for is “drawn.” You feel drawn to a certain path of life, not called.”
Are you “called”? Or “drawn”?
He was right. I hadn’t received a “call” from anyone, not even God, at least I think I hadn’t.
I don’t think I’m alone in this. Many people have difficulty understanding the (very subtle) difference between feeling drawn and being called to do God’s work.
When you are drawn, God designs your walk of life to include experiences with someone who needs your talents. Take for example a dating couple. By attraction and sentiment, God has placed one in the pathway of the other to converse, to relate, to acquire a highly intimate relationship in which one soul is drawn to the other through their bonds of love.
As a result, they then call one another to make their love a permanent ministry. When they accept this call, they are united by the One who created them to be one flesh in the Sacrament of holy Matrimony.
To be drawn is an ascent of the will to participate more fully in an act so that your desires might be quenched at its completion. This initial draw sparks from personal interest and is a catalyst toward discerning its place in your story of salvation. It becomes a call when, after having proven yourself to be dedicated to what you were first drawn to, someone (or someones) takes notice and calls on you to do more.
A man and a woman in a dating relationship call one another to become more as a united one in marriage.
A young man spends years studying and practicing his pastoral care and theology while in seminary until the Bishop (or the master of a religious order)calls him to become a priest.
A nursing student takes on hours of extra floor work at the hospital on top of her heavy course load and is later called by her advisor and hospital director to accept her degree.
This is how discernment works. We are drawn to holiness and we pursue it in our own unique ways. In our pursuit, God draws us through our inner silence, constant contemplation, and ongoing development to become more than we think ourselves capable of. It will take years, perhaps even decades to hear his voice, but he will, indeed, make his voice known through those he has placed in power over us. Those who pursue him with a humble soul recognize his voice in the approval of those offering them work in God’s vineyard and they respond to this offer with sincerity of heart.
Very few people in this day in age are actually called by God to do his work without regard to having been drawn to him first.
St. Paul was called when he was knocked off of his horse on the way to Damascus.
Moses was called when he met God at the burning bush.
Peter was called when Jesus told him to leave his fishing boats and follow him.
You are probably not called to do what you think you are being called to do. You are likely drawn to follow a pathway that will lead toward doing this work. In time, those who notice your dedication to excellence in journeying that pathway will call on you to do more.
We are drawn before we care called. This is how we are to “test everything” and “retain what is good” (1 Thes 5:21).
Over the past 10 years, I’ve spent an enormous amount of time as a student of social media. I’ve studied, experimented, implemented, and ultimately created hundreds of strategies to help extend my evangelical reach to a world in such dire need of God’s saving Word. In doing so, I’ve neglected many of the needs of my community, my family, and my soul.
After a decade of delving deep into the missionary fields of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. I’ve decided to leave social media altogether.
Let me tell you why:
1) None of My Favorite Saints Would Have Used It
I can’t see St. Joseph tweeting. Mary would not have a facebook account. St. Dominic would likely loathe Instagram. Had social media existed during the times of my favorite Saints of old, I highly doubt they would be used at all. Most of God’s best examples of heroic virtue were those who went against the current of the societies they made an impact on. Like St. Benedict and John the Baptist who left the world to become more to it, I’m choosing to leave the digital town square of 3.5+ billion users to better sustain their needs in the spiritual realm.
2) I Don’t Want a Fragmented Mind
If you haven’t read the book Deep Work by Cal Newport or The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, please do so immediately. Our dependency on technology has truly altered our capacity to think, pray, focus, and ultimately live truly happy lives. Granted, there are huge benefits to technology use, but until you read those books, you’ll likely live your life like I did, lost in a torrent of digital distraction.
3) I Want My Work to Be Better
While social media has proven to be an effective means to get my work out to the world, it has also proven to be a huge time consumer. I’ve had to sacrifice time to social media marketing that otherwise could have been used to fine tune my craft, focus on the creative process, and ultimately create better content. So, I’ve decided to do away with social media for the opportunity to become better at what I truly love: writing, video production, teaching courses and working as an international missionary with my family. More on those in future blogposts.
4) I Want to Focus More On Reality
While I’ve enjoyed my brief breaths of digital air that cure my boredom, I’ve decided to opt for boredom. So much good happens when we are bored! When I am in line at the store, doing my business in the bathroom, or waiting for my child’s swimming lesson to finish, I want to allow my mind to recognize the needs of the world around me. It bothers me to no end that, because of social media, I’ve likely missed a life-changing conversation with a stranger in that line, a profound thought in that bathroom, a smile from my kids as they swam in that pool. It is time to get real.
5) I Can Save More Souls Without It
While I am not 100% sure what my return on investment has been for my social media presence, I can safely say that I’ve had more of an effect on the souls of those who I come into real contact with than those with whom I have not. I am also confident that every Hail Mary I’ve prayed has had a million times more of an impact than any status update I’ve made. I’d like to say more Hail Marys; she does a lot more with what little I am than I ever could.
6) I Want to Focus on Relationships
My family is more deserving of my time than anyone else on this planet. Also, I am a sixth grade teacher and those students need my complete attention during the school day. I cannot be God’s hands and feet if my hands and feet are cast about the waves of the digital seas. I need to regain my land legs and journey through the seemingly deserted island that is today’s world and rediscover the people whose lives need me the most.
A Disclaimer
As a disclaimer, I will be keeping my facebook account, but I will be deleting all friends and acquaintances that are not part of my extended family. The reason for this is because much of my family’s goings-on and communication are scheduled through facebook and it would be less efficient if I were to abandon it completely. This just goes to show that social media isn’t a bad thing; it can be used for efficient purposes.
And that is the primary reason why I’ve decided to leave social media: it has become more of a negative form of entertainment than an efficient facet of life. It has done more to harm my soul than strengthen it.
I have a sense that I am not alone in this…
Now What?
My goal is to become a digital minimalist so that I can spend more time lost in contemplation, silence, and advancing God’s kingdom through this blog and my work at the Dominican Institute. From here on out, I plan on being notoriously difficult to get a hold of, but if you really need to contact me, you’ll find a way.
Let’s face it, the world today is filled with negativity. Darkness abounds in a world filled with lit screens. Life is submerged into the ocean of nihilistic philosophies whose trimmings and trappings bear many titles- materialism, relativism, consequentialism, etc. It is in this nighttime of discontent that super heroes fall from the sky, onto the silver screen, and revive the very fabric of our being.
We love super hero movies. The box office earnings prove that.
The latest Marvel installment, Avengers:Infinity War, earned more than $630 million in its first weekend. More importantly, it raised many eyebrows, including my own, and for good reason; IW did something that no other super hero move has done in recent history- it showed us who we are as a society.
In recent history, super hero movies have followed the same plot line: Superhero gets powers. Evil villain arises. Superhero defends people from super villain. Super hero defeats villain. End of story. This plot line ensures that our thirst for good to defeat evil will be satiated and all will be well with the universe.
Infinity War did not do that. At. All.
Rather, IW brought a mirror to theater and placed it smack dab in the face of the fallen, human audience who watched it. What we saw was something amazing on the surface, but when we looked deeper, we found the broken nature of our imperfections. Allow me to demonstrate:
Evil Wins Regardless of Our Combined Efforts
The villain won. It didn’t matter that the Avengers were already divided, when they were fighting on different planets, they fought together without even knowing it. As a result, they “joined forces” to establish the best onslaught possible against the god-man, Thanos, who, even when beaten by the good “god-man, Thor, was still able to win.
Isn’t this similar to our own spiritual lives? We know that our hearts call us to become better versions of ourselves, to constantly seek out perfection, beauty, goodness, and truth so that we can live our lives to the fullest. And yet, we fall so often. We are prideful, selfish, impatient, and crass. No matter how hard the hero inside us fights for control over our souls, we let the villain within us win.
Positive Motives Do Not Always Equal Prosperity
With the snap of his fingers, Thanos was able to eliminate half of the universes’ population. In his eyes, he was doing the world a merciful service by ensuring that each planet would have enough food to fill their bellies and resources to sustain their survival. But, is that really what life demands in order to be happy?
We too find our own evil desires to come in the form of positive motives. We think that if we satisfy our sinful desires, we will be happy. But, do the ends justify the means? Perhaps for a short time, but ultimately, the satisfaction wears away into guilt and shame because we realize that our actions were set firm in a solid moral theology. We become our own gods when we refuse to recognize the one true God whose moral precepts far outshine our own.
Sin Disintegrates the Soul
The effects of Thanos’ individual power are shown when half of the universe disintegrates into ash and then, nothingness. Normal people, superheroes, villains, even other life forms all become like air into which the nostrils of those who remain breathe in and out of their mouths. Like a faint echo, they are mourned in memory unable even to be buried into the ground from which their essence came.
When we fall into the temptations of our own sinful desires, the consequences that follow are life-sucking. We become less human and more like nothingness because we are slowly being separated from the Giver of life- God. Disconnected from his power, we are nothing, and sin is the dividing wedge that wanes our existence.
That Which We Love Most is Not What We Should Most Love
I’ll admit I was in utter disbelief when Spiderman, Dr. Strange, and Black Panther began to fade into dust. Here, some of the top money makers in Marvel’s cinematic collection were, well… gone. It was hard to fathom how it was possible to kill off these characters. How could Marvel sustain their economic stability without them? Much worse, on a personal level, why would they do it?! They were my favorites!
But it just goes to show you that what we really love in life isn’t always what we should love. There are many things in our lives that take the place of the real, life-giving experiences we long for. The football game trumps time with our families. The phone overcomes our desire to exercise. The late-night Netflix binge cuts into our necessary sleep hours and hurts our efficiency the next day at work. I could go on… The bottom line is that our priorities are not as they ought to be, and as such, our lives do not become what they should be.
The Director is Plotting the Sequel
We all stayed for the final credits. We had to. There was simply no way we were just going to let the ending of Infinity War be that final moment of “Are you serious!?”
Why? Because we are a people of intense hope. We know we are sinners. We know our lives are not being lived to their greatest degree. We know that we are not the best version of ourselves which is EXACTLY why we love watching the same super hero movie plot over and over again.
And when Nick Fury’s device flashed Captain Marvel’s symbol amidst the red and blue backdrop, that hope was ignited again.
We are in what seems to be an infinity war within ourselves. Within the constant barrage of attacks to our spirit, God loves us regardless of our faults and strengthens our will to overtake the enemy. This earthly life is just the beginning of a redemptive story. In the end, the seeds we sow in virtue during this life will be reaped in then next.
The sequel of our current misery and tribulation is the grande finale in our story of salvation- heaven, where infinite peace reigns forever. Just as Thanos will eventually be defeated in the next Avengers movie, so too will our souls be redeemed when we enter into the beatific vision.
God is pure goodness. The devil, having no creative properties of his own, has only one option- to take the goodness and turn it into evil.
That means that all sin spawns from something good. The soul-darkening things we do always start with a small decision between two good things.
Example: “I have some free time today. I can exercise or read. You know what? I am tired today so I think I will read.”
That situation might seem trivial. It might seem like both are valid options and would not lead to sin. However, when reading becomes the consistent choice time after time, you begin to ignore your physical health and then become guilty of the sin of sloth.
Another example: “I have some work to do, but it can wait until tomorrow. I should be with my family and play with my kids. You know what? I can let them watch TV for a bit while I finish my work. Two birds with one stone. (Thanks TV!)”
This one is a bit more obvious. Granted, work is a good thing; it provides economic stability for your family and personal satisfaction for a job well done. But time with your family is a higher priority, especially when work can wait until tomorrow. Hence, the sin of greed and/or pride consumes us.
Two good things. That’s all the devil needs to convince you that the lower option is the most important. More often than not, we are tempted to do that lower thing because, as St. Thomas Aquinas put it, “[we] desire evil . . . insofar as [we] think it good. Hence [our] intention primarily aims at the good and only incidentally touches on the evil.”*
Thus, “incidentally”, we refuse God’s fresh and natural goodness and settle for the knock-off version through which we fall short of building up the spiritual nourishment we need to thrive.
So, how to de overcome this catch-22? We pull a “St. Francis de Sales”.
St. Francis de Sales had a giant intellect. Strangely enough, his written work was not nearly as prolific as other saints that had similar mental capacities. He published work was not the least bit prolific like Aquinas or even Fulton J. Sheen. The majority of his writing came from letters that he wrote to the people in his diocese, especially lay men and women. He chose to be a pastor more than a writer.
De Sales had two very good things to choose between in his ministry: to write about God or to pastor his people. He chose the latter and, as a result, he was canonized as the Patron of the writers and journalists. He sought wisdom over knowledge and, as a result, was given knowledge and the highest credit for his writing that one could ever receive. He “[sought] first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [were] added to [him].”- Matthew 6:33
We often have to choose between two good things in our lives. The devil will try to convince you to go for the one that will have the least impact on your salvation and of those you were meant to serve.
To truly know what way to go when confronted with two good things, prioritize your choices with God at the forefront of your decision-making process in prayer. Through unceasing prayer and frequent trips to the adoration chapel, you’ll be given the gift of wisdom. Then, you’ll know which choice to make.
*Thomas’s Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics. Book I: The Good for Man. Chapter 1, Section 2, under Commentary. # 10 (link)
