I’m posting this on a Sunday, though I didn’t write it on a Sunday. I actually wrote it on Wednesday night while waiting up for my son to get home from working out at the gym. But I’m trying to be better about unplugging from work and writing, one day a week, to be fully present with friends and family and just enjoy it. Enjoy them. And Sunday seemed like the obvious choice to do that, so I’m sitting here on a Wednesday, writing about Sunday.
It’s not like I’m super religious or anything, but I’ve been feeling lately like something is missing. I’m a bit worried about the culture we’re living in—one that promotes virtual connectivity over in-person relationships and faith. The more we go online, the more we seem to be getting torn apart at the seams. The grownups all seem to be so mad at each other over politics, kids are flooded with reels (and Netflix shows) devoid of morality or decorum, and bots are controlling the dialogue. This is a pretty weird timeline we’re living in.
Maybe it’s time I go back.
Back to Community
After the chaos of long covid and the digital aftermath we’re all still living with, it’s become pretty clear to me that the answer going forward—the path that is going to help us with our collective mental health—is community. Our neighbors and friends. The people we care about at home. Local news and community gatherings. All of it. We need to unplug from these damn devices and just be with each other again. And I know this is ironic coming from a guy posting on a blog who also likes to share photos on Instagram, but the main reason I do this is out of a desire to share some positive thinking and connect on a real level through words and imagery. Through artistic expression.
I know it sometimes feels like we’re all starting to lose each other, but my honest belief is that we will grow closer together again. The great pendulum of life always finds a way to swing back in the other direction. Maybe that’s one reason I’m feeling the need to go to church: to pray that happens a little quicker. But I confess, I’ve got work to do there because I’ve been a very poor church attendee over the years. I struggled when I was younger with my faith because I didn’t like the idea of calling someone besides my dad, “father,” and I also had a lot of questions about how the Trinity worked. There’s also the problem of finding a good priest whose messages resonate rather than repel. But I’ve seen a lot, especially in this last decade, that’s got me believing some things—that something good is holding all of us together that deserves our gratitude.
Hope and Thanks
I’ve got a long way to go to get better at this, but no matter what our faiths are, taking a time-out to thank whatever god or cosmic energy we believe in is surely a good exercise. Gratitude never hurt anybody. It doesn’t have to be on Sunday. Or even in a church. Lord knows that the mountains have been the altar I’ve worshipped at forever. But I know it makes me feel good to hit the pause button and slow down to think about what matters. And since we’re doing confessionals, I’m also hopeful that if my kids see that their dad is trying to prioritize faith a bit, it’ll rub off down the line. A guy can hope, right? It seems like a good place to start, at least.
