The internet is exhausting me lately.  The election news leaves me frustrated, sad, or just plain angry. Comments in social media by friends and family sometimes leave me amused or self-righteous, and other times irritated beyond words.  This communication tool is a blessing and a curse.

The same technology that lets me send a word of love or encouragement to my dad as he cares for his wife as she disappears into dementia also makes it possible for me to tell off an old classmate for his comments about the election.  While I can offer words of prayer or compassion in response to one post, I can share words of harsh judgment to the next. The emotional rollercoaster wears me out just now, and makes it challenging to act and speak in responsible, faithful ways.

Then I ran across this modern quote that resembles an ancient one.  Here they are together:

Christ has no body now but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
— Teresa of Avila

Christ has no online presence but yours.
No blog, no Facebook page but yours.
Yours are the tweets though which love touches the world.
Yours are the posts through which the gospel is shared.
Yours are the updates through which hope is revealed.
Christ has no online presence but yours,
No blog, no Facebook page but yours.
–Meredith Gould, The Social Media Gospel

Both these wise women remind us that we have the power to help or to hurt.  Through in-person or online encounters, we can care for others, or injure them. Treat them with distain or with love.
-ara