This last year has been heavy. Between unrest in our world and the election of our newest President, there is a LOT going on that calls us to speak up.
It seems social media specifically, has become the platform for the world to know our stance. Rightfully so. I mean, it's the quickest, easiest way to voice our opinions and make everyone hear them, whether they want to or not, right?
During the Fall, I watched as people I love shared those voices and feelings from both sides of the aisle. Some did so with carefully chosen words and some, not so much. It's funny how passion can also cause a lack of good judgment sometimes. And that's in all things, not just politics.
Over this season, I found my heart becoming more and more burdened. Not only for our country, but as people's words to each other began to stack in piles inside it. How could passion become so mean? Why couldn't that passion be reigned in and used with dignity and goodness?
Maybe it's because of sin. Maybe it's because we are so desperate to have our voices heard that we will drown out all sense of humanity to make sure it is. I really don't know.
Beyond politics, I watched as my Facebook feed began to fill with click bait posts of abuse or terror. As people shared videos of horrific events to be a part of making them viral. We all want to be a part of something, don't we? It become consuming. Being sensitive to anxiety and a deep feeler, I started to become oppressed by what I would see. Sometimes even to the point of making myself ill.
Everyday I would scroll on and on just looking for light. For the good. It was in there. I just had to get past the icky to find it.
And then, something clicked. This is MY social media account. I get to decide what I see, but instead of "unfriending" or "unfollowing" people, because they have good inside the too somewhere, I took a different action. I also don't want to go social media dark because I do believe truly that there is goodness within those walls.
One day I came across a video a friend has shared showing an angry mob brutally attacking a man. I still don't know why people share things like this. Anyway, enough was enough and I clicked the "Hide post" button in the top right hand corner. This button helps filter what is shown on my feed and I'd waited much too long to use it. You see, what has been filling my feed, is what I've been feeding on. Not good at all.
From there, each time I came across something that I couldn't bare to see, I did the same. Over a few weeks time, I became in control of what I was letting into my heart on my Facebook. No longer was I seeing all the junk, but the good and great things my friends have been sharing were being brought to surface. They weren't being pushed down by viral nonsense anymore. Encouragement, happiness, joy! Did it get rid of all the gross? No, but it sure cleaned it up A LOT!.
My friend, remember my post the other day about how important it is to be careful what we see, hear, and say? All in an effort to protect our minds and hearts? This is part of that. You have the ability to choose what you let in. More than you think.
I'm not choosing to do this because I want to stick my head in the sand or pretend it's not happening, but let's be honest, very little of the information I'd gain in this manner is as pure as it should be. If someone is passionate about changing how I feel about something, we can chat, in a civil way, just them and I. Facebook isn't where that will happen.
I am simply guarding my heart and am encouraging you to do the same.
I still want to let others light shine on me and I'd like to think that maybe mine shines on theirs, so unfriending isn't the way to go. Choosing what I'd like to see and not see as I look for that light is. At least for me anyway.
Whether it be politics, violence, language or maybe even annoying food pics (which I'm a sucker for, so don't hate :) ), you get to choose what fills your feed and hence, what you feed on.
Choose wisely my friend. Protect that precious heart. Don't let it become some contaminated by the world that you become cold and forget just Who that heart belongs to.
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