{"id":307,"date":"2013-02-20T14:32:50","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T19:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=307"},"modified":"2013-02-20T14:32:50","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T19:32:50","slug":"true-kind-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2013\/02\/20\/true-kind-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"True? Kind?  Necessary?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is <\/em><em>noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praise-worthy\u2014think about such things.<\/em><br \/>\nPhilippians 4:8<\/p>\n<p>These words from the Christian scriptures have always been an encouraging reminder for me to try and focus on the more positive aspects of life, especially when I find myself spiraling down into negativity. I thought of them recently while checking out Facebook entries and wondered how different my newsfeed would look if everyone who posted a message took this passage to heart.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Whatever is true \u2013 Somewhat reluctantly I have \u201cunfriended\u201d a couple contacts simply because the posts they sent were simply not true and usually political in nature.\u00a0 Reading blatant lies made me agitated and angry and certainly didn\u2019t help matters.<\/li>\n<li>Whatever is noble and right \u2013 I am often amazed at the amount of ranting and raving that I read on Facebook. From time to time there are very legitimate reasons to share an indignation, especially over a blatant injustice. However more often than not I read complaints and whining over what seem to be trite and trivial in light of the more pressing<br \/>\nproblems of our world.\u00a0 \u201cNoble and right\u201d posts, on the other hand, lift up positive reminders of the good that surrounds us, often through an inspiring video clip or song.<\/li>\n<li>Whatever is pure, lovely, and admirable \u2013 As a chaplain, I view Facebook as one way to stay connected to community members past and present. Whether sharing the good news of a recent wedding or birth of a child, or finding support after the loss of a loved one, one can use social networking to be in solidarity with one another during the ups and downs of life.<\/li>\n<li>Whatever is excellent or praiseworthy \u2013 Sharing a recent accomplishment such as a special graduation or recent recognition of a family member helps spread the joy. On the other hand, making hurtful<br \/>\nremarks\u00a0 and mocking out the mistakes of others spreads toxic feelings and is unproductive at best.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Facebook, like any other means of communication, is only as good as the information that is shared and the intentions of the people who share it. I feel challenged by the words of scripture to be a little more thoughtful, reflective, and intentional before making the next post. Or as an elder once taught me:\u00a0 \u201cBefore you pass along any story, ask yourself these three questions: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?\u201d And if the answer to any of these is \u201cno\u201d the story should not be shared. Good advice then. Even better advice now.<\/p>\n<p>Peace,<\/p>\n<p>Anne<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praise-worthy\u2014think about such things. Philippians 4:8 These words from the Christian scriptures have always &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2013\/02\/20\/true-kind-necessary\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">True? Kind?  Necessary?<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anne"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-4X","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}