tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post7219000059343968818..comments2024-03-28T00:17:55.823+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: The spiritual significance of mass/ social media saturation-usage is not so much its effect, as being evidence of motivationBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-10315605369281222772018-11-20T23:27:42.983+00:002018-11-20T23:27:42.983+00:00"wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that..."wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat"<br /><br />And all of those people are poking at their phones as they wander down that broad path to destruction...Dexterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07748293799490877339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-14367991378607021052018-11-20T00:59:52.209+00:002018-11-20T00:59:52.209+00:00People are more likely seeking escape from reality...People are more likely seeking escape from reality.<br /><br />Heaven is real.<br /><br />But so is Hell.<br /><br />The difference is that Heaven must be <i>embraced</i>, Hell is available by default for those who do not choose some other real possibility.Chiu ChunLinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03519192610708043962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-21284299576088879772018-11-19T16:26:19.304+00:002018-11-19T16:26:19.304+00:00"Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’..."Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n," Milton has his lost Arch-Angel say.<br /><br />We each reign in our own bubble/kingdoms exchanging memes, putting up Potemkin a-social media facades or immersing ourselves in private "paradises" (complete with 72 porn-virgins).<br /><br />Acid guru Ram Dass advised, "Remember, be here now." But his generation had no more desire to "be here now" than ours does. They did it with dope. We have added "devices" to the arsenal of here/now-evasion tools.<br /><br />Anything. Just give us a transcendence pill or gizmo. "Beam me up, Scotty!" Or down.<br /><br />But it is by striving to be holy and dealing in humility with the here-and-now that we are made fit for eternity, which is to say, by the cross.<br /><br />"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."<br /><br />– John 14:6<br />Avro Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00005144579985210348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-49350698902916147702018-11-19T15:21:34.240+00:002018-11-19T15:21:34.240+00:00I regard this life as a kind of taste of Heaven. E...I regard this life as a kind of taste of Heaven. Even, and especially, in the necessity for confronting evil. It has been my conviction for some time that most people do not want Heaven, they do want Hell, despite all the ways that God has worked to make the good things instinctively feel good. The various artificial ways of tricking our instincts exposes the deep division between what motivates us and what motivates God.<br /><br />People still seem to feel it's better to be embodied than not, but it seems more likely that it's simply fear of death rather than love of life that motivates this.<br /><br />Though, from what I can tell, this is a good thing, overall. I mean coming to terms with rejection, learning to value, all the more, the good and those individuals who have chosen it.<br /><br />Like you point out, things are coming to a point. It's probably too late for people who don't even see that. But it's not like it's easy for people who do see it. The opting-in is not just a matter of seeing. It's very hard to see the common acceptance of deep depravity and rejection of true love, then not feel a little shaken in desire to fully participate in God's work. So I think it's necessary that we allow God's perfecting touch to heal even our motivations and desires. Or rather to trust that eventually our ability to love will be sufficient for the task.Lucindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01834799557675879450noreply@blogger.com