Workout day 44; #postaday2011, @postaday
Divine whisps of fumata bianca aside, one doesn’t become the Pope if one is a dummy. There has to be some there, there. And, having grown up and schooled K-12 in Catholic institutions, I’m intrigued when the Pope wishes to weigh in on matters in my life, such as virtual relationships. He weighed in on this yesterday:
Pope Benedict XVI tells young beware Internet’s virtual world
He means well, it’s good guidance, and I agree to a point. I agree that when the virtual world monopolizes my time and I marginalize my family and in-real-life (IRL) friends, that it is not beneficial to these relationships. For some of us, such as people like me who are thousands of miles away from family and friends, a lot of these virtual relationships are actually rekindled friendships. There are definitely virtual friends and people I may never meet, nor need to. And that tier has to be kept at a distance.
My life’s spiritual journey has been all over the map. Where many of my childhood friends are still in the Catholic church, perhaps attending mass at the same parish they had their whole lives, I have gone quite a ways from that. Life’s experiences and disappointments have created a chasm I don’t care to cross. I appreciate the faith I grew up with, but time and distance has exposed me to other ways to look at one’s relationship with G*d.
I find it intriguing that the Pope weigh in on virtual relationships, because I feel like my relationship with G*d is virtual. I feel like it has always been. I say “Oh, G*d!” like the rest of us. I search my soul when in despair, I thank the high heavens when joyful, I walk a bug across the street because I see G*d in all living things. I see each of us as equals in the eyes of G*d.
So while my relationship with G*d probably shouldn’t be compared to my relationship with some of the characters who populate my virtual landscape, in a way, if we treat each other the way we wish to be treated, if our lives show respect and openness to what others might say or feel, then how different are those virtual relationships, especially if we are to see G*d in each other?
Lavagal 