Time to Think

Have we stopped to think? Is thinking an archaic idea? (Yes, I see the irony in that rhetorical question.) Do we have any new ideas? Are we wasting this precious time in quarantine, especially those of us still in it in states like California waste away because we are not thinking through what we say or write? Have we thought of the dire consequences our constant bickering, and degrading on social media might have on our current and future generation? When and why did we stop thinking? 

It’s these types of questions that can lead a person to discover something great or lead a person to insanity. It’s a difficult discourse because when we share with others that we are concerned and that we need to think, they placate us. As a teacher of teenagers and a youth pastor for sixteen years before that, I have discovered the true irony of asking a teenager what were they thinking when they did something that was truly idiotic. The real question is always, “Why did you not stop to think?” I don’t think I can ask that question to a teenager anymore if the adults in our current culture refuse to think. 

We post comments, memes, and articles on social media that reveals we didn’t stop to think that it could insult someone that is hurting. We post and we don’t think that what we post can be refuted quickly. If someone does refute it, we badger them and belittle them so we can show our superiority, in which, everyone loses, and the original poster does not even realize that they just lost a friend. This all occurs because we didn’t stop to think in the first place. 

Thinking critically means we think of the repercussions of what we say or write or post on social media. Thinking critically means we realize that no human being or group of human beings are perfect or have the answers to all of our problems. People who are able to think and process the problem in front of them and search for a solution. When we search for solutions, we realize that we have to work with those who think, believe, and even vote differently than us. That is the true foundation of critical thinking. 

We stopped thinking and we have become polarized as a society. We stopped thinking and racism runs rampant in our country both with people and institutions being outwardly racist and people and institutions being subtly racist. We stopped thinking and people are killing people or attempting to kill people. We stopped thinking and people are having affairs in their relationships and people getting hurt. We stopped thinking and the church has received a bad reputation, which is the only result we in the church should have seen coming.

We all need to take the time to think. It’s difficult because once we begin thinking, we realize where we are wrong. We just have to admit it.  We can change and become better human beings. We can be kind to one another, but it will only happen when we decide to control our thoughts and think for ourselves. We have this precious commodity of time. We need to use it wisely and think through our words, written and verbal, and create the country that we all long to have. If our leaders refuse to think, we as citizens need to start thinking and stop following thoughtless people. 

I know I have to grow in this area myself, and it is what I am striving to do every single day. Trust me. If you need encouragement of why we need to stop and think, teach one day online to students who don’t want to go to school online. Thinking is required. Thinking should be required of us all. 

We are afraid to stop and think because we recognize the truth. The Truth will set us free. The truth will guide us to think and we can become free of the lies that society tries to tell us through their posts on social media and their words to us in real life. We have to overcome our fears and step out on faith and begin to think. No one can control our thoughts. How or what we think is what we all alone can possess. May we reveal that our thoughts are ones that will build others up and not tear them down. 

We Have Been Duped

 

Two weeks ago, I watched the documentary, The Social Dilemma on Netflix. In that documentary, it is confirmed that we have been duped by those who crated social media sites and it has divided us as a country. I said this over five years ago before the last election. I wish I had created that documentary. People share articles, whether they are true or not, and then they create commentary. This is where they control us. They send us ads and make sure we see more posts about those issues. 

We don’t need to worry about Russia when we are harming each other. We yell and scream at those who think and believe and heaven forbid, vote differently than us. We have decided that our enemies are people that are hiding behind screens. The battle is bloody when we speak evil of one another for believing and thinking differently from us. The strange thing is the beauty of friendships and relationships is the differences in beliefs and thoughts. 

For my entire life, I have always prided myself to have my own beliefs and ideas and not let others easily persuade me. In kindergarten, all the kids told the teacher their favorite color was blue or red. Guess whose favorite color was purple. Yep, even with choosing my favorite color, I was an independent thinker. In this year of 2020, I’m beginning to wonder if compliance would be much easier. With easy comes heartache because doing what is easy is not always doing what is right. We have to do what is right, so compliance is wrong. 

The best thing we can begin to do in this time of our lives is to respect one another. We do not have to agree with one another, but we need to stop demonizing those who think differently than us. We need to understand that because of people’s experiences, they will have different beliefs and thoughts. We must realize that God has created us all with unique qualities and traits. If we all think and believe the same, we become robotic and we are easily led to do whatever any leader tells us to do, which is where social media comes into play. 

With people living online and the social media giants controlling what we do and what shows up in our feeds, we have become easily led to believe that those who think differently from us are pure evil. It is all a sham. They have duped us and it has divided us. We don’t even recognize it. We see it as normal. We see those who believe and think and vote differently from us as the enemies. They are not. Those who are trying to control us, who are in charge of the social media sites and they are succeeding at controlling us, are the enemies. 

It’s difficult to win a war when we are fighting the wrong battles and the wrong enemies. If we continue to fight against each other with how social media is controlling us, we will destroy ourselves and one another. We need to come together and not allow others to control our thoughts and beliefs. It starts with taking time to realize how much we are influenced and who or what influences us. 

Throughout my adult life, I have allowed others to control me because I thought the conflicts would end. In reality, the conflicts grew and most of the conflicts that grew were within my own soul. A few years ago, I realized that I had to become who God created me to be and be the unique person He created me to be, and not throw away what I believe. I can get along with others who think and believe differently than me because to be honest, not many people will claim purple as their favorite color. 

We can disagree. We can have discussions, but once we begin to degrade one another, we have lost. We lose our dignity, our friends, our honor, and our integrity. We need to believe in one another again. We need to take control again. May we understand that what occurs in cyberspace can become real in physical space. People are struggling during this time of confinement. Let’s encourage and build one another up. Let’s think before we post because we don’t really know the struggle someone has on the other side of the computer. May we begin to think of others more than ourselves. May we not allow the social media gurus to destroy us. It’s time we take the control back.