I met a friend the other day at mass and we went for a coffee afterwards to talk. Not long after we sat down two women sat at the table next to us and were engrossed in their smart phones, looking up occasionally to converse. Even if I wasn’t talking to my friend I would be sat there alone reflecting on something that had occurred to me and savouring the coffee (mind you, there was not much savouring going on as this was Costa Coffee, a place I don’t usually go to – but that’s another story altogether!) Why I love that meme posted above is because I am that ‘psychopath’, the one who loves to just look around and reflect. But in our present age this is not the norm, I have become the abnormal weirdo sat in the corner!

Our society today likes short and quick. Twitter limits the words you can use and Tik Tok encourages people to post short, entertaining and quirky videos, which encourage us to scroll and watch voluminous amounts of unconnected material. Facebook, now apes Tik Tok and has its own ‘reels’. We are encouraged to ‘scroll’ on our Facebook wall to find something of interest. Algorithms keep us hooked in and continuing to watch by suggesting pages that might interest us based on what we have previously viewed. Endless scrolling is not something FB or YouTube want as they know we can get bored if we are not hooked into something. This is evident with streaming services like Netflix when we spend so much time looking for that ‘good movie’ that doesn’t exist. Consumption is ultimately limited, so to achieve maximum consumption is to peak our interest. So to hook us in to something we might like (say, funny things that cats do, or worst football penalty takers of all time) is the aim, to keep us scrolling, watching and attached to our screens. It plays on a culture that feeds on instant gratification – creating an inability to wait and a lack of desire to explore the complexity of situations. So scrolling is the modus operandi of our culture along with its sisters ‘speed reading’, ‘speed dating’ and every other ‘speed…’ going. Isn’t it time to slow down a bit?

With social media it is a hard thing to do. I often promise myself not to scroll on my Facebook wall but to just visit the pages of those I am interested in. The same with YouTube, that I will only check in with my subscriptions and not scroll through their ‘suggestions’. And so I frequently fail in sticking to this…why? Maybe it is the thought of missing out on something and being caught up in the allure of wacky, shocking or just mega-interesting titles…I think it’s aptly called click bait. It is not just social media though, ‘short n sweet’ is the name of the game generally. I remember a previous parish priest telling me he would always make sure his homily’s would not exceed 5 minutes – and would start with something humorous to get the congregation’s attention. Am I the only one that felt that the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II was a bit short. I couldn’t find a time frame for her father’s funeral in 1952 (it is very strange the things that I find myself trying to look up on the internet!) but I would bet that it was a lot longer.

There are alternatives on social media to the instant gratification of scrolling (if you search/scroll for them!!) Matt Fradd with his ‘Pints With Aquinas’ show, prides himself on long-form, informal discussions. I think he set a record recently in his interview with Parler CEO George Farmer. It went on for over five hours – yes I did watch it all, but not in one go. Often though, the best way to discover the art of pondering is to come off electric devices and open a good book. That or going on a nice gentle walk in the countryside or sitting in the corner of a coffee shop – that serves decent coffee! It is about discovering how to slow down and think a bit more deeply and reflectively about life and all its complexities, paradoxes and the things we might learn.

Luke 1:26-29

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Sometimes life can confront us with things that are confusing or perplexing. If we can move beyond a need for quick and easy answers, if we can accept that God is in charge, then we can along with Mary discover the art of pondering. It’s not just about being perplexed, when something amazing happens, then just be amazed! Treasure those things that are good, beautiful and true…and dwell on them.

Luke 2:17-19

When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

Mary, our mother…help us to ponder and be amazed by the wonders of God’s creation. Help me to turn off the internet more often, pick up a good book and drink good coffee. Pondering with the heart is the best thing ever…high time I got myself off to a monastery.