Thursday, November 13, 2008
Is That A Connection?
Dan Edelen at Cerulean Sanctum recently ran two posts on social networking technology. He says a lot in those two posts, but this I think strikes at the heart of it:
We are indeed a media obsessed age, and I do believe that social networking technology is more about the media than the message, more about the fame than the relationship.
Let me get personal for a moment. The last 4 years have seen the end, through death, of the two most significant male relationships in my life. My friend since junior high school, Ken Stanley, and my father. These are men with whom I have spent ENORMOUS amounts of time over the decades. During this period, though not on this blog, but on another, I have enjoyed quite a bit on Internet based success. Trust me on this - it is no substitute. That success has in some ways felt quite hollow because those men were not around to share it with. Through that blog I have met and interacted with many smart, wonderful people. I have formed friendships that I hope might someday take on the significance of those, but it is unlikely - insufficient decades remain in my life span for that kind of depth to once again form.
Breadth is no substitute for depth when it comes to relationships. There is a communication that happens in silence that can only happen after you have come to know someone very well. By definition, media based relationships can NEVER be silent.
Now, think about that in terms of a prayer life and see where it gets you.
Which brings me to my second point. Why, if media matters so much, did God choose a point in history for His incarnation that had virtually no media? There was then only the written word and its access was highly limited, most were illiterate.
Jesus Christ is undeniably the most significant figure in history. He achieved that without so much as a single radio interview and without leaving one written message. His significance was achieved not in His message, but in the relationships He built with 12 men. These were men He lived with for 3 years - men HE came to know in the way that only presence can provide. Men He was SILENT with.
Electronic communication is a wonderful accessory to the management of a real relationship - but it does not constitute a relationship of itself.
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Internet-based social networking takes this to another level. Since there must be winners and losers in the push to be noticed, people have to stay current and hot. It’s now not enough that an actor must keep his or her face out there, even if it means slumming in C-Movie Land, your average Jane is compelled to keep her MySpace page up-to-the-minute or else face obscurity, buried under a hundred million other pages that are hipper and more relevant. To this generation, nothing could be more damning than to find no one cares that you think Timbaland is teh hot because they’ve moved on to someone else’s minty-fresh page.Dennis Prager is fond of saying, "Fame is no substitute for significance."
We are indeed a media obsessed age, and I do believe that social networking technology is more about the media than the message, more about the fame than the relationship.
Let me get personal for a moment. The last 4 years have seen the end, through death, of the two most significant male relationships in my life. My friend since junior high school, Ken Stanley, and my father. These are men with whom I have spent ENORMOUS amounts of time over the decades. During this period, though not on this blog, but on another, I have enjoyed quite a bit on Internet based success. Trust me on this - it is no substitute. That success has in some ways felt quite hollow because those men were not around to share it with. Through that blog I have met and interacted with many smart, wonderful people. I have formed friendships that I hope might someday take on the significance of those, but it is unlikely - insufficient decades remain in my life span for that kind of depth to once again form.
Breadth is no substitute for depth when it comes to relationships. There is a communication that happens in silence that can only happen after you have come to know someone very well. By definition, media based relationships can NEVER be silent.
Now, think about that in terms of a prayer life and see where it gets you.
Which brings me to my second point. Why, if media matters so much, did God choose a point in history for His incarnation that had virtually no media? There was then only the written word and its access was highly limited, most were illiterate.
Jesus Christ is undeniably the most significant figure in history. He achieved that without so much as a single radio interview and without leaving one written message. His significance was achieved not in His message, but in the relationships He built with 12 men. These were men He lived with for 3 years - men HE came to know in the way that only presence can provide. Men He was SILENT with.
Electronic communication is a wonderful accessory to the management of a real relationship - but it does not constitute a relationship of itself.
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