This hyper-connected world

The mail icon on my phone glares at me. On any given day it says I have more than 10,000 emails. Try as I might, I don’t expect in my lifetime to conquer the backlog. Among the offers of “Unique Opportunity!” “Last Chance!” and “Eat Bacon, Reverse Diabetes” are surely some meaningful, and missed, gems.

When the year winds down and the days fill more with night than light, we seek rest and time to focus on the Prince of Peace. Yet the throng of a media-saturated world and the blare of nonstop information can seem more oppressive, more full of noisy gong and clanging cymbal than ever.

We wade through heaps of toxic sludge. Elizabeth Lauten not only gave classless insult to the president’s children, she got a speeding ticket and was arrested for running a red light at 19. These things we learn in bullet points and bold face on the homepage of so-called serious news sites. Want a bigger blast? Try #EricGarner or #CrimingWhileWhite as recent court decisions prompted thousands into the streets and millions into inflamed hashtag comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Toxic social media can be serious stuff. Earlier this month the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued warnings to families of U.S. military personnel: Islamic State militants are scouring social media for Americans in uniform, calling on supporters to “show up [at their homes] and slaughter them.” Officials warned the troops and their families to take out public information that could make them a target.

Humans are made for interaction. That’s what the age we live in is really telling us.

In it all there’s tonic too. After all, humans are made for interaction. That’s what the age we live in is really telling us. So I’m wading through incoming and backlogged social interaction like a Marine taking a swamp, on the lookout for dry ground to speed the journey. And here are just a few life-giving promontories, ones worth pausing to give thanks for and learn from. There’s the day-by-day informative—as when my credit card company emails to question an unusual charge—and there’s the sublime.

A few months ago William Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, emailed to ask about aid groups working with Syrian refugees. He learned I was traveling in Lebanon from Globe Trot (a three-times-a-week tonic of foreign news you can receive by email if you contact me) and wanted to know more about the refugees there. I put him in touch with a group working through churches in Bekaa Valley. Months later, without anyone ever being together in the same room, Murray’s coalition has been able to arrange 1,000 Christmas dinners for refugee children in Lebanon. He traveled there this month to host the first of 10 dinners where 100 children will have a festive time and go home with a basket of food for their families. When the internet brings the world close—linking plenty to want—that’s good.

Facebook helped connect a Sunni Muslim with an Israeli army spokesman in a remarkable effort to save a storied Jewish synagogue in war-torn Syria. The quest, reported in The Wall Street Journal, eventually involved Israeli officials, Syrian rebels, and New York rabbis. It failed to save a key landmark (the synagogue was bombed in May), but may pave the way for something more lasting.

Scripture has plenty to say about how we communicate, and models a variety of forms. Recounting history and waxing poetic—even romantic—all have their place, along with harsh admonition and R-rated graphic details of real life in a fallen world. Sarcasm and humor? Those too. But the forms are formed and the point is: Have a point. Speak with purpose. In this day that might mean pausing to think what I hope to accomplish in 140 characters, rather than simply increasing my Twitter followers.

Emails that get my attention state their purpose and show someone thought enough of my time to reread before sending them. Former President Ronald Reagan insisted all memos crossing his desk, no matter the subject, be no more than one page. Brevity isn’t boss, but it shows thoughtfulness. And whether you Facebook, Tweet, Gchat, or hit Slack, words fitly spoken and thoughts that connect are more to treasure than ever.

Email mbelz@wng.org