Do you remember that old line we used to say, "Fools' names and fools' faces are always seen in public places?" I can't remember why we said it. Maybe in response to seeing our friends' names or faces in the newspaper or their names linked together romantically, as in "Jimmy Loves Sally."
It could really apply today, couldn't it , to Youtube and Facebook and Myspace and even to a blog like this, that you can reach by punching on one of the ministers' portraits. There is something a little foolish, when you think about it, in a public display of one's name and picture like this. Who are we to be dispensing wisdom or sharing our thoughts in public?
But, on the other hand, maybe it is one of the glories of our time and the electronic culture representing it that we can make personal connections so easily and share sometimes very intimate thoughts so effortlessly. I mean, it is really wonderful that I can reach out in a blog like this and people from literally anywhere in the world can respond to it-can write back instantly to say, "Hey, I agree with that" or "That makes me feel good" or "What kind of nut are you?!"
St. Paul once wrote that ministers are all "fools for Christ," people who put themselves in an absurd position to relate to believers and unbelievers alike in the name of Jesus. I like the word that John Mackay, the great old Scotsman who was once president of Princeton Theological Seminary, added for some of his students who were behaving a bit too outlandishly: "Boys, I know the Bible says we are to be fools for Christ, but boys, it doesn't say damn fools!"
Maybe we are all "damn fools" for Christ. But I still think there's something strange and wonderful about our being able to communicate like this, so rapidly and easily, and share what's on our minds and hearts in an electric forum embracing the globe. If it doesn't help us overcome the interpersonal distances among the people of the world, I don't know what will. It's surely a tool God has given us for creating a more loving and compassionate humanity, and I hope we'll take advantage of it.
Why don't you reach out to someone today and say "I love you" with an e-mail or a blog? And why not do it for several people? |