A Superficial Life
The rapidity with which the world changes, thanks to digital technology, leads to a life in which both the good and the bad have been polarized. This affects all human beings with consequences not only material but also morally and spiritually. Those of us who are adults with more than fifty years of age are witnesses to the disappearance of many customs and habits in our society that are important. Privacy and respect for human rights are some examples.
There is a depersonalization in things, because of the internet and social networks, as elementary as going to the supermarket and talking with other people we meet in the store. We are pressured to lead a light, lazy and fast life, driven to communicate through digital media and make instant decisions without having the time to meditate or think about each issue.
In our schools there are higher pressures that demand results and rapid learning, answering tests with the sole objective of achieving good scores regardless of whether the student learned or not. This problem is valid with students who have come from countries that are not developed, and where the population lives an absolutely different reality than what is lived in the USA. Of course the results with those students will be far below what an average young American can achieve. That implies a process called cultural crossroads that few understand or know how to face.
From the spiritual point of view, the social network has proven to be very poor in terms of moral and cultural values, which leads to a superficial life. This consumer society has become a permanent source for many of anxiety, anguish, frustration, and a sense of stress. However, the people of God should not lead a superficial life because it does not produce good fruit. John the Baptist, before Jesus began his ministry, said to the presumed ones: “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10 ESV)
The superficial consumerist who is addicted to the digital is not unworthy: it is humanly poor. Its superficiality becomes a rule of conduct that displaces what God wants from each one of us. A world accustomed to the very fast is insatiably consumerist of devices that can never be up to date. The powerful companies live in a constant war of renovation with lucrative aims that contribute little to a simple and practical life. Everything we buy today after a few hours is already obsolete from that point of view.
The universal church should worry because it produces in the new generations a considerable lack of identity, where interpersonal communications are carried out back without bodily presence, leading many to not respect others with superficial judgments. It is losing the awareness that the message of God is and will always be the same. “…and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:19 ESV)
We cannot be a people of God in name only, because that has no value but we give testimony before the Creator.
May God bless you.
