On Being a Member
May 8, 2022
I wonder how many of the problems we are facing right now stem from our unwillingness to be a part of creation. Creation is messy. It is cold. It is brutal. It is warm. It is compassionate. It is messy. To survive we have to kill and eat, a brutal act. But by surviving we are able to bring new life into creation, a compassionate act. The storm destroys, but also waters the earth.
Sometimes we design technologies to help us avoid or sidestep this reality. The soil is hard—we introduce a plow to break it, enabling us to plant crops. The distance is long—we use a phone to call or FaceTime with family and friends, maintaining a relationship that would weaken through time and distance. Sometimes these technologies aren’t removing us from the reality of life; they’re helping us more fully engage with it. Planting crops or speaking with friends are ways of participating in creation that aren’t always possible without technology.
But sometimes we use technologies to remove us from the world so that we don’t have to engage with reality. The soil isn’t good enough, so I treat the soil like a container for nutrients, a “medium,” instead of helping it grow and develop like the living thing it is. I’m not a fan of how I look, so I use a filter to make me more attractive on my Instagram.
To be a part of creation is to be limited by space and time. Any technology that helps us overcome those limitations comes with tradeoffs. Someone, somewhere, has to pay for it or make up for it. This is a necessary reality—none of us can be truly self-sufficient—but we must be mindful of it. When you buy clothes, you are giving up the opportunity to become skilled in making clothes. For most of us, that is a wonderful tradeoff! But to buy cheap clothes, someone has to produce cheap clothes. We get a great deal, but what about the factory worker making it possible? Our win comes at their expense.
We can’t get away from being members with one another. We are inextricably linked together, the same way your hand is linked to your arm. Cutting yourself off, trying to sever those connections, is the epitome of hubris and rebellion against our Creator. But too often we do not pay enough attention to these connections. We don’t pay attention to the people we are relying on for our livelihoods. We don’t see them, so we don’t know or understand the ways our wins come at their expense. Our connections are so often mediated through stores and corporations, lending a sense of anonymity and magic to the proceedings. How did that milk get there? Who or what was involved? How do I even begin to find out? For all I know, Harry Potter or Merlin summoned it.
Ease is a blessing in life, but it’s also an idol. In recent memory we have been blessed with ease, but it has come at a great cost—the destruction of the environment and social relationships. The only remedy is relearning how to be a part of creation, members with one another.
—John Coffey
