{"id":3906,"date":"2017-12-07T10:31:14","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T15:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/?p=3906"},"modified":"2017-12-07T10:31:14","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T15:31:14","slug":"make-good-use-selfies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2017\/12\/make-good-use-selfies.html","title":{"rendered":"Make good use of selfies"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than one million selfies are taken per day? Blah. Sounds like a self-obsessed world. Or, is it self-awareness?<\/p>\n

Can selfies lead to self-awaking? Can it lead to an awareness of God?<\/p>\n

Experts and researchers are trying to answer those questions especially since the increased selfie trend demands so much attention these days.<\/p>\n

But, there\u2019s nothing new about selfies, only the word, which was incorporated into the Oxford Dictionary in 2013.<\/p>\n

In Bible times, people looked in water or used polished surfaces and saw themselves. It sometimes brought wonder and thoughtfulness.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as you can see your own face reflected in water, so your heart reflects the kind of person you are.\u201d Proverbs 27:19, Easy-to-Read Version Bible<\/p>\n

The famous Artist Vincent van Gogh, painted and drew himself more than 43 times between 1886 and 1889, even though the modern mirror was invented in 1835.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion\u2014do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.\u201d Matthew 6:27-29, The Message<\/em><\/p>\n

During the twentieth century, technology contributed to the spike in selfies a bit. Self-timers were added to cameras so the delay between pressing the shutter release and the shutter firing, allowed photographers to take selfies or family shoots.<\/p>\n

However, after Apple introduced the iPhone with a front-facing camera in 2010, selfies became pervasive, nearly invasive.<\/p>\n

Instead of being offended or obsessed with selfies as we know them today, we can move forward with a balanced perspective that holds in thought a true image of our self and others as the image of a God that is Love, Spirit, Truth.<\/p>\n

From 21st<\/sup> Century Science and Health<\/a>,\u201d Sixth edition.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA student of spiritual Science and a student of physical science are like two different artists. One says: \u201cI have spiritual ideals, indestructible and glorious. When others see them as I do, in their true light and loveliness\u2014and know that these ideals are real and eternal because drawn from Truth\u2014they will find that nothing is lost and all is won by a correct estimate of what is real.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other artist replies: \u201cYou flaw my experience. My ego-centric-ideals are both mental and material. It is true that materialization renders these ideals imperfect and unreliable, yet I would not exchange mine for yours, for mine give me instant self-gratification, and they are not so shockingly transcendental. They don\u2019t require me to be unselfish. They keep Soul well out of sight. Moreover, I have no notion of losing my old doctrines or personal attachments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow then reader, which mind-picture or expressed thought will be real to you\u2014the spiritual or the temporal? Both you cannot have. You are bringing out your own ideal, either eternal or temporal. Either Spirit or matter is your model. If you try to have two models, then you practically have none. Like a yo-yo, you will spin and bounce between the real and the unreal.<\/p>\n

“The Revelator tells us of \u201ca new heaven and new earth.\u201d[1]<\/strong><\/a> Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of supreme wisdom?<\/p>\n

“Let us rid our self of the belief that we are separate from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love; here is the launching pad to all true spiritual growth.<\/p>\n

“It is difficult for the narcissistic attitude to accept divine Science, because Science exposes the nonbeing of a separate self. The sooner error is reduced to its native nothingness, the sooner realness appears and our genuine being is understood. The destruction of error is by no means the destruction of Truth or Love, but is the acknowledgment of them.”<\/p>\n

[1]<\/strong><\/a> Rev. 21:1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than one million selfies are taken per day? Blah. Sounds like a self-obsessed world. Or, is it self-awareness? Can selfies lead to self-awaking? Can it lead to an awareness of God? Experts and researchers are trying to answer those questions especially since the increased selfie trend demands so much attention these days. 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