The Virtual Abbess and Online Addiction

I followed fellow instigator, Rick Meigs, from his post at The Blind Beggar, over to Raffi’s MT post…and see that there are many posts around to read that are riffing off Dan Kimball’s post, which I have not yet even read!

One particularly interesting one is by Patrick Oden…read it if you want to get to the nitty gritty issue.

And if you need a smile, read Grace’s post…but not while eating or drinking–the Abbess will not be responsible for choking accidents….

So, what follows is my comment on Raffi’s MT post:

My name is Peggy, and I’m addicted to the web….

Like Jamie (and so many others), there is a virtual community that lifts and supports me that stand in the gap of what does not exist in my face-to-face reality.  I have learned that I need to be more restrained.

But I find that I am able to be more restrained as the sense of “starvation” abates … for I have been many years in a very desert kind of place, a dry land where there is little to refresh and nourish.  For me, to have turned away from the oasis that the Holy Spirit has provided in my virtual community would only have hurt me more — like the traumatized one in shock who pushes away the hands of those come to help and heal.

These hands have lifted me up and brushed the sand from my face.  I admit, in those early days, I was a bit like those who gulp the water in such a way as to splash more than is swallowed … and the starving who forget to take small bites and chew thoroughly.

But I’m recovering from that and the strength is seeping back into my weak limbs … and I can now do things in the physical realm because of the strength received from the virtual.

And so I remain AbiSomeone–a very small little Virtual Abbess, looking to continue the process of reverse mentoring and, like Rick, get on with the business of being an apprentice so that I may also be one who apprentices.

But there is only one Master….

Blessings to each of you….

If you’ve not read my chapter on Virtual Mentoring at The Abbey, it’s barking right up this tree.  You can find it’s tab at the top of this blog.

Okay, now I’ve got to get cracking!  :^)