Selfie-centredness

Joyce Sasse - Though we seldom stop to do the analysis, our actions are usually indicative of the basic values that propel our lives. When are these actions of a more progressive nature? When might they be regressive?  Do you remember taking pictures when the photographer was the person behind the camera? Now we have become obsessed with selfie-centredness. Whether it be with a favorite celebrity, standing at the peak of a mountain, or in front of a prized pet, the features of the selfie-photographer are front-and-centre.

It takes me back to those days when we thought that the earth was the centre of the Universe. Humankind was so obsessed with the rightness of this thinking that those who thought otherwise were condemned to hell-and-damnation.

Our basic values determine the path our actions will take. What I declare to be right or wrong, the causes I support or try to repress, the way I define what is just or unjust … when my attitude is selfie-centred it is easy to conclude other ways of thinking are illegitimate. Our intolerance threshold is high. The result can be conflict and chaos.

The spiritual teachings of most of our World Faiths would guide us along different paths because they are not selfie-centred. They advocate ways to enhance the self, but it is usually so that followers might serve a greater good. The call is to consider how to live enriched lives for the sake of the community, for the sake of the creation, for the sake of the whole. One’s thoughts, actions and attitudes are lifted outward and upward.

In Christian Scripture, the missionary Paul expressed it so well by writing, “The three greatest things (one can aspire to) are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”.

You can’t be selfie-centred when you are called to respect and love one another!