It's More Chill Over Here...
It has started. Every day when I grab the mail from the mailbox there is an obnoxiously large flyer promoting one political party or the other. The ads on tv are quickly turning political. Just like the pumpkins that have appeared in Kroger signally fall is on its way, the election season is upon us.
This is the time of year that I as a pastor of a purple church deeply dread. The time of year that I as a person who has loved ones and friends who vote in all kinds of ways dreads. It seems the very fabric of our society is often on the brink of being ripped. It's like the volume dial of the world gets turned all the way up.
A few years ago, I made a shift in my life that took the noise of frustration and anger of the world and lowered it down. It started in fall of 2022, when I realized that Instagram was making me, a new mom, feel inadequate for not being able to buy my child a $200 organic hand loomed blanket. My baby lacked for nothing, but the beautiful pictures and targeted ads made me feel as though he was deprived of everything. It was in a fit of frustration one night that I logged out of instagram. I found almost immediately that I didn't need the ads, and I didn't miss the styled pictures from my friend’s vacations or of their dogs. I could just see those pictures when I saw them in person.
In spring of 2024, I got off Facebook for lent. And almost immediately, I realized just how much I didn't miss my friends and mentors and acquaintances' commentary on social events. After a few weeks of no social media, I realized that my internal anger over current events had gone from a roiling boil to a slow simmer. Stepping away from social media didn't make me apathetic, but the system didn't keep me enraged.
Fall of 2024, during a tumultuous political season, I noticed something important. I didn't know what people I loved or knew were saying online. I didn't know what they were yelling into the void of social media. I didn't know what things they were saying that would have made it hard to love them. I didn't know the political things that would have divided us. This small step made it easier for me to love my neighbor, love my family, and love our church. I think this small step made me a better pastor and friend. It has helped me keep partisanship out of sharing the gospel and preaching the world, because I simply don't know what rhetoric is flying around. I know the moral issues of our day, but not necessarily the partisan takes. These days, I get the bulk of my news from the Macon Telegraph and AP News.
So as we begin the political season, when the powers of the world want to divide us into camps and fight it out. I ask you to consider, how might you turn down the noise of your world? What steps can you take now, in September, to make sure that in November you are loving your neighbor well? And if that leads you to step away from social media for a bit, welcome! It's more chill over here.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Caitlin
