God is everywhere, including the blogosphere
By Mary van Balen-Holt
Mike Collins is chuckling somewhere in paradise as he watches me write a blog or check my new website. Those of you who have been reading the Catholic Times for a while will recognize Mike as a long-time editor of the paper. I remember him not only as the editor who asked me to write this column I have been penning for the past twenty-three years but also as the friend who had unwavering faith that I would publish books someday. Visits with him were welcome opportunities to spend time with adults when I was in the midst of raising three young children.
Once I wrote a column about the downside of fax, email, and cell phones. They eliminate personal contact. I could send something to the office through the mysteries of cyberspace or I could print out my column, drive into Columbus, and have an enjoyable conversation with Mike.
They could make people constantly available, I continued. Employers began to expect their workers to be reachable anytime. I ranted on. Years later, after my children were older and I was emailing my monthly column to the office, I ran into him.
“Mike! How are you? I haven’t see you for ages.”
A grin spread across his face and his eyes sparkled.
“Yes, it has been a long time. You don’t stop by the office anymore. I remember a column someone once wrote about the impersonality of emails….”
We both laughed. A part time job made running the column to Columbus more difficult and despite not having the pleasure of long conversations with Mike, I appreciated the convenience of email.
Thousands of emails later, I have entered into the blogosphere. Obviously, I have had a change of heart. I have recognized in myself the “older generation syndrome”: reluctance to change, seeing all the problems with new technologies (and there are many) rather any of the opportunities they offer. Lasers can be used to destroy; they can also be used to heal. Emails, Skype-like programs, and cell phones can be a poor substitute for person-to-person communication; they can also allow family and friends separated by long distances keep in touch, or a bedridden grandparent enjoy the sight of a toddler’s first steps.
During a class on the Church that I am teaching at Ohio Dominican, we discussed Vatican II and Pope John XXIII’s receptivity to the good that resided in the modern world. Ours is an incarnational faith that sees God’s glory and overflowing gift of self in all creation and in our ability to learn and understand more about it. Pope John had faith in God’s presence with us, and he called the Church to replace fear with hope when looking to the future.
A man of warmth and simplicity, he knew the importance of personal contact and walked the streets mingling with common people. He visited hospitals and surprised prisoners by coming to them. He also knew there were other ways to spread Jesus’ message of the coming Kingdom. He wanted to communicate with people in ways they could understand. He had good news to proclaim and did not want to confine it in outmoded language or presentations.
I think Pope John would approve of current ways God’s invitation to relationship is shared across the globe: Popular music, drama, television, multi-media events. Modern technologies also provide additional ways to share God’s loving compassion with others. We have the ability with a click on an Internet link to support micro-loans to people building a way to support their families or to learn about disasters and mobilize help.
The possibility of using electronic communication for ill is no reason not to use it for good. I hope my website and reflections on my blog will in some small way share my experience of living life expecting to find God in the middle of its messiness, and pushing on when that Presence is not so obvious.
I like to think that, were he still here, Mike might log on and read a blog or two, and then talk them over with me as we sipped coffee in his office.
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