(a blog repost from earlier this year)
In their book, The Sacred Romance, John Eldredge and Brent
Curtis noted that our culture produces a "thinning" effect on our
souls, causing us to become "light", airy, and vulnerable to whatever
blows in from the winds of our post-modern culture. They called this
"ontological lightness, the reality that when I stop "doing" and
simply listen to my heart, I am not anchored to anything substantive. I become
aware that my very identity is synonymous with activity."
I a recent newsletter, Eldredge reflected on how, in the 10+
years since the publication of The Sacred Romance, this condition has only
gotten worse. The piercing and tattooing movement, the "simplicity"
movement, the increased obsession with celebrities, and the popularity of
"reality" television all point to a deep need for substance,
grounded-ness, and a deeper sense of self.
And with social media like facebook (and blogs….gulp), one
writer noted that "we can digitally represent ourselves without having to
be ourselves."
It all seems so hollow. Yet I am as susceptible to this as
the next person.
In the book of Acts, chapter 17 verse 28, the Apostle Paul,
in presenting the news of Jesus to a curious crowd of skeptics and seekers in
Athens, notes that "in him we live and move and have our being." Any
other place we look for groundedness comes up short.
How will you stay grounded in 2012? If you are a Christ-follower, what will you do to
remind yourself that you are one in whom Christ dwells? What will you do to
keep your identity rooted in Him? How
will you resist the pull to anchor your identity in someone or something else?
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