In the warp-speed cycle of digital news, caring for our souls requires time in God’s Word, time away from our devices, and a reminder that we’re called to faithfulness, not success.
In his book Every Moment Holy, Douglas Kaine McKelvey offers “A Liturgy For Those Flooded by Too Much Information.”
“We are daily aware of more grief, O Lord,” he writes,
“than we can rightly consider,
of more suffering and scandal
than we can respond to, of more
hostility, hatred, horror, and injustice
than we can engage with compassion.
“…. remind us that we are but small
and finite creatures, never designed to carry
the vast abstractions of great burdens,
for our arms are too short and our strength
is too small. Justice and mercy, healing and
redemption, are your great labors.
“…. Give us discernment,
to know when to pray,
when to speak out,
when to act,
and when to simply
shut off our screens
and our devices,
and to sit quietly
in your presence,
casting the burdens of this world
upon the strong shoulders of the one who
alone
is able to bear them up.
Amen.”
BreakPoint