Word to the Wise
Saturday, January 19, 2019 - Saturday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 4:12-16 and Mark 2:13-17]The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. [Hebrews]
One of the most dramatic developments of the last twenty years has been the expansion of the internet and all that the digital world has brought into our lives. It seems to be everywhere, and large players like Facebook and Google are beginning to face criticism because they failed to protect personal data. I notice that a little "dialog box" appears at many websites wanting to know my location. That, too, may yield data for marketing or other purposes. Now we have these devices such as "Alexa," or "Echo" in our houses monitoring our lives. I am reminded of the Orwellian expression from his book, 1984, "Big Brother is watching you!"
The description of the word of God in the Letter to the Hebrews in today's first scripture seems to match the internet for impact. Or does it? We may concede, as a matter of faith, that God is everywhere and knows all things - even our deepest thoughts and secrets, but by a simple bit of psychological denial, we put that divine reality out of our consciousness.
God's word is not printed letters on a page but a person, Jesus Christ. The printed words are our way of giving expression to our faith in Jesus. If we put the everydayness of Jesus' presence out of our consciousness, the result may be that we ignore those printed (or painted or sung) expressions. If we have faith, then the word of God is indeed intimate to us. Giving it our full attention is the challenge. When we do that, the impact can be greater than the internet! AMEN