A Meditation on Reckoning With Social Media

A Meditation on Reckoning With Social Media

Guest Writer: Karen Dubert

As I reckon with social media.

I need mountains of wisdom—

and stacks of restraint.

Like toddlers with hunting knives and power tools

we play thoughtlessly

on deceptively simple cyber-technology.

Access to so much data—

Unknown chinks we create as we share—

with the illusion that by curating

words and pictures—we control the message:

oh tenuous, naive hope.

When I post something—anything

do I question my motivation—

the direction I am choosing—

self-deprecation, self-glorification

How well do I know myself?

When I read something—anything

do I interrogate my inclination—

the choices I’m making—

to compare or measure?

to judge or justify?

How is my soul faring

on what I choose for nourishment?

When I choose not to choose:

but merely scroll down, and down,

losing the gift of minutes and hours

to emerge weary and disgruntled—

Will I offer myself grace? to lean into

the will to grow into someone

whose perspective is strong and sound.

Compassion is my refuge.

Not for self-indulgence

or an excuse for false “self-care”

but for my inner being to be renewed

so it may reflect an outer grace

and share a smile,

not a reproach.

Karen Dubert.  July 20, 2026  https://apoetinexile.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

Joanna joannaseibert.com

The Feast Day of the Transfiguration: August 6th

The Feast Day of the Transfiguration: August 6th

chapel of transfiguration, camp mitchell

“Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly, they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him… Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”— Luke 9:28-36

Today, we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, during which we heard the story of Jesus being revealed on a high mountain to three of his disciples as the incarnation of God. Anyone in 12-step recovery can immediately identify with transfiguration, seeing the light, a moment of clarity, and encountering the God who has been there all along within us and others. Still, we never saw this before because we were too busy making “dwellings” for other idols, such as alcohol, food, drugs, work, etc. 

chapel of transfiguration Kanuga

Moments of transfiguration occur when we are awakened from a deep unconscious sleep into a conscious bright light, where we see, feel, taste, and touch God’s presence. Transfiguration is about experiencing our true nature, the part of God within ourselves and others. It is the moment when the veil of all else begins to fall away, and we connect with the presence of God within us, eventually desiring to turn our life and our will over to the care of God. That is the moment when we let go and let God. 

Richard Rohr believes we cannot see God in others until we first see God within ourselves. That moment of clarity speaks to us that we are better than the life we are leading. So, recovery is seeing that spark of God first within ourselves, which leads us to see God in others. We encounter the person who once annoyed us and caused us to harbor resentment, and we begin to notice a glimpse of the face of God in our neighbor, and we may respond in love.

“If we want to find God, then connect to God within ourselves, and we will always see God beyond us. For it is only God in us who knows where and how to look for God.” 1

Frederick Buechner reminds us that as we see God within ourselves, we begin to see God in situations we had never noticed before: “the face of a man walking his child in the park, a woman picking peas in the garden, sometimes even the unlikeliest person listening to a concert, standing barefoot in the sand watching the waves roll in, or just sitting with friends at a Saturday football game in September. Every once in a while, something so touching, so incandescent, so alive transfigures another human face that it’s almost beyond bearing.” 2

If you are having difficulty seeing the face of God, stop for a moment and look at our young children. God’s presence seems to burst forth from them. I have been overwhelmed by God’s presence this past week among the 90 children at our Vacation Bible School at Saint Mark’s.

Transfiguration is the message and promise of recovery, seeing the face of God first in ourselves and then in others. Each day, we celebrate the transfiguration that recovery continually brings to our lives and to the face of every person we encounter. Transfiguration is a daily reality.

Chapel of transfiguration Grand Tetons national park

1 Richard Rohr Adapted from The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2009), 159-161.

2Frederick Buechner in Whistling in the Dark (HarperSanFrancisco 1988), p. 120.

Observing Creation: A New Spiritual Practice to Help Us Live in the Present Moment

Observing Creation: A New Spiritual Practice to Help Us Live in the Present Moment

Mary Anne Seibert

"Here's a suggestion for you today. At some point, stop. Gaze at something God has created. Take in its shape and form, color, movement, and intricacies. It could be a single bud on an autumnal flower, an animal or bird, a shapely fruit, or flowing water. Gaze at it long enough to see through it to its source: God—so majestic, infinitely creative, and miraculously generous in sharing these traces of God's glory with us."—Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of Saint John the Evangelist.

Brother Almquist offers us a new spiritual practice. He invites us to gaze at something in creation: a tree, a flower, a bird, a river, the rain, the snow, until we see the Creator in it. We might call it Observo divina. This will be a new practice for today. It all started yesterday when we saw two fawns of similar ages with a single doe in our backyard. We were mesmerized by the fawns' awkward gait, curiosity, and their seemingly delighted exploration of a new world at every turn.

This practice is another way to learn to live in the present moment. This is where God meets us, in the present moment.

Today, as I write, a lone male deer with huge antlers passes by my window. He takes my breath away. Once, multiple deer passed by my window, but now visits are infrequent. The buck is probably headed across the street to join many other deer living in the woods behind our son and his wife's house. There, I know he will be just as welcome as he was here. In fact, all the images were taken by our daughter-in-law, Mary Anne Seibert. As he walks by majestically, I think of a scene from the movie The Queen, when Elizabeth II encounters a beautiful deer. They simply look at each other and admire one another. They seem to see the beauty of creation in the other.

mary anne seibert

This is also what we do for each person we meet today. We look into their hearts to see Christ, God, and the Spirit within them. Our task is to see the Creator in all creation and to praise and give thanks for it.  

We start with lovable things until we can finally see creation in those with whom we have difficulty. Take heart. Sometimes it may take more than a lifetime. But God never gives up on us, living beside us in the present moment and placing so much beauty before us that we cannot help but stop, notice, and give thanks. 

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/