#xplored

Xplored anuncia que The Bad Karmas and the Curse of Cthulhu será la primera expansión independiente de The Bad Karmas and the Curse of the Zodiac. Inspirándose en el horror lovecraftiano, cada uno de los nuevos encuentros con temas únicos enfrentará a The Bad Karmas contra Great Old Ones, incluido el legendario Cthulhu. En este nuevo capítulo, los amados héroes se encuentran en la década de 1920,…

Hasbro and Xplored announce a partnership to develop a new tabletop platform #tabletopgames #boardgames

Hasbro and Xplored have reached a strategic partnership to transform board games through the integration of smart-sensing technology, and dynamic multimedia content. Under the terms of the agreement, Xplored will collaborate with Hasbro to develop a new tabletop platform that integrates digital and physical play for fans around the world. Xplored’s technology connects physical and digital…

Letter of John to the Philippians 2

“If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”

INSIGHT:

When we look at our Facebook and Instagram feeds, what do we see?

To have a more quantified and concrete idea on real-life feed, I peeked into a sample of the eastern hemisphere’s Facebook feed from  Hongkiat.com’s article on the 10 Common Facebook Status Updates. The 4th most common would be the show-offs: “When will these companies stop trying to hire me? Tsk.”. On the other side of the world, Huffingtonpost.com claims that bragging ranks as the top 3rd most common status update: “I just whitened my teeth and now look just like Cindy Crawford!”.

Recent standard Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) surverys conducted by research psychologist Dr. Peter Gray from Columbia University within the year of 2014 claim that a whopping 70% of the youth have become more narcissistic and less empathetic compared to the results of surveys sent out in 1970. It is speculated that due to the flare of social media networking websites, the general online world population unsuspectingly has been set unto circumstances for swift development of narcissim, and therefore a decrease in empathy. Isn’t this ironic as the main objective of Facebook is to create and extend one’s “social connections”?

I had done some showing-off myself. In the heat and excitement of long-time accomplishments conquered, what else would I have felt compelled to answer Facebook when prompted, “What’s on your mind today?”. For a while, I wasn’t really bothered. I had my achievements, and okay everyone else had theirs. But it kept happening, and happening, and hold-on-a-sec; I thought, do we really need to celebrate our life’s achievements publicly?

After an unlocked accomplishment (and artfully boasted off in a subtle manner, I have to admit), it became harder to feel aligned and ready for the next challenge. I would be paralyzed in anxiety thinking: everyone must be expecting something of me.  

I rolled in my hodge podge of useless worry and dilly-daddled. I felt stunted, until I realized that the anxiety I had in me was the fear of losing what fueled my sense of pride. When we constantly seek the approval of others, and cannot let go of an accustomed high regard for one’s self, we leave no space for growth.

As strange as it may seem, humbling and emptying one’s self may bring us clarity. Clarity to see our limits as humans, and what strength needs to be gathered to begin again and achieve something greater. This is exactly what Jesus had done for us to follow and learn from when He suffered death on a cross. He did this so that those who need to face greater suffering may have someone to hold on to and look up to. It has been more than 2015 years since Christ has died, and yet His story of love, suffering and sacrifice continues to touch myriad of hearts around the globe. He didn’t need to post a Facebook status update for any of it. What does that say of what we have now? What type of world are we creating?

St. Matthew 21: 28-32

Jesus said to the chief priest and the elders of the people: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes sir’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will? They answered, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him.

PRAYER

Dear God,  Humble my heart, and let it be one with Your Spirit that I do not judge and harm myself or others. May I constantly create space that I may fill it with love, and find the strength to be all that I can be to do Your will.

Amen

NOTES

Hongkiat.com is a known Malaysian website which provides “tips, tricks and tutorials for designers, bloggers, techies and readers…” ; source: http://readwrite.com/2012/07/13/most-popular-hashtags-on-instagram

Huffingtonpost.com by Sarah Fader, a parenting blogger; source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-fader/the-10-most-common-facebo_b_4745601.html

Dr. Peter Gray of Psychology Today; source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201401/why-is-narcissism-increasing-among-young-americans

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory, test yourself here, http://personality-testing.info/tests/NPI.php

Interpersonal Reactivity Index, or the basis on rating an individual’s emphathy, here: http://fetzer.org/sites/default/files/images/stories/pdf/selfmeasures/EMPATHY-InterpersonalReactivityIndex.pdf