Story behind Smash my Screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOWvle61BBMI wrote "Smash my Screen" in response to seeing photos/videos/stories of people (in this instance, child refugees) somewhere across the world in dire situations. I realized that while they make me aware, my screens (computer, TV, even house/car windows) are a barrier to actually loving my neighbor as myself. My screens give me safety to choose to not respond to real needs, seemingly without any consequences to myself, because nobody (except God) knows I'm doing it. Screens also make people with real lives and real loved ones become just another sad tale in another world. I started to imagine what it would be like if I, or that person in need, could literally smash through my screen so we can meet.In this one instance (perhaps out of thousands), I chose to give financially--to support the experts there doing the difficult work, and to help them buy necessities. (From working in non-profits, I know how expensive it is to do this work! And I know funds and people to help always come up short.) In this instance, I was reminded of the refugee families I had the privilege of getting to know and help in Rochester, making the humanity of these souls across the ocean all the more real to me. But what if I hadn't had that experience in Rochester? I'm sure it would have been all to easy to depersonalize them. To judge them. To see them as unworthy. Or to leave it to "someone else." (But who?)I am part of the body of Christ. As I discuss in my book, Surviving Service, I know that doesn't mean that I am required to do something about every issue I encounter. But it does mean that I have a responsibility. I am one part of a body that should be functioning as Christ. I should not be dead weight. You will know us by our fruit.People like boundaries. Screens. Walls that divide. Doors that lock. They make us feel safe. They keep out those that "didn't earn" or "don't have the right" to what we have. They keep out the "bad eggs" that may possibly be posing as those that really need our help. But I'm not called to live a safe life. I'm not called to put up walls; I'm called to tear them down for the least of these. I'm called to live a radical life of love. To spend myself--my time, energy, money, gifts--on others that need what I can give.So then,Will you smash your screen? Perhaps just as important... Will you keep me accountable to smash mine?