Media.

"Mass media is weird, because it's "mass" and relationships seem imbalanced, but the reality of Jesus always changes that equation." - Brant Hansen

A different way of looking at the world.

This is how I feel about the internet now.

However, if you would have asked me a couple years ago, I would have lamented the creation of mass media. I would have told you how I thought it took away from interpersonal relationships. I would have pointed to the studies that say social networking websites made you less satisfied with life, because you only see the glitter of everyone else's life without the garbage and you begin to feel as if everyone has a better life than you.

When pictures of everyone else's engagements, weddings, and world travels flash across the screen alongside their status about acceptances to graduate school, new jobs, and all the other bright, sparkly things in their life, while you are sitting there single, lonely, and empty - it can cause all the insecurities that are lying dormant to rise to the surface. And in a dark room through a dimly lit laptop screen those gnawing feeling of discontentment and pain will rise up and taste bitter in the back of your throat.

Clearly facebook and twitter are the bane of the 21st century. If they just vanished we would all be happier and less insecure and jealous. Without them we would all be more satisfied with our lives. Clearly if I didn't see other people happy I would be happier. Right?

Or maybe not.? Maybe facebook and twitter just expose the discontent that is already sulking around in our hearts? Maybe this has been a problem for humanity across the ages.?

Reality, Jesus is enough. is enough. is enough. And when I look through a set of eyes that can see the edges of the enormous gift I have been given--it changes things.

See, I have started to view the world differently-thanks to so many individuals who have challenged me to look through a different lens. With their lives and their words they have been like an optometrist who flips through the lenses causing the the blur on the screen to become clear.

They have urged me to peel back the veneer of perfection that people display and remember that we all struggle. They remind me I don't know the pain and demons that have screamed and howled at someone and I don't know the story behind every smiling face.

They have taught me to lean into and see the beauty that surrounds me all the time and rejoice when others find it too. They've shown me that joy comes from the outpouring of a grateful heart and there is much to be grateful for in every moment.

So now I want to see and hear about the beauty you uncover. Show me a picture of the sunset you see, tell me about the love story that is being written for you at this moment, capture in still frames that trip you take to England, shout with glee when you get your dream job, and tell me about how your coffee tasted like grace this morning.

Snatch the sparkly things in your life and show me because I want to see them too. Bend down, reach up, and find the shiny things that make you smile, they are worth looking for.