Reflection: The phrase “to follow” has a new meaning in this age of
Twitter. I opened a new Twitter account
recently: @pfairbanks, and I have a grand total of three “followers” – people who receive my
tweets. Granted I don’t put out many
tweets, but it is nice to have that contingent of friends and acquaintances to
accompany you down this yellow brick road of social media.
That’s what Jesus knew was valuable as His new Apostles were
testing their new social wings of evangelization. Jesus knew that those who perform mighty
deeds in His name were just as included in the circle of friends as those who
follow the same God under a different screen name. That is, part of our participation in the social
medium we call the Kingdom of God means that we drop the urge to prevent
(control) the unfamiliar, and rather accept the work of stranger and alien as Jesus
did. After all, we have more to learn
about God’s Twitter account than a simple laptop can provide.
