A perfect prayer to pray before using social media

It’s a terrific prayer — useful to offer in many cases besides social media — but I must say that this short and sweet plea seems like something we absolutely ought to utter as we click into our teeming Twitter (and Facebook) timelines, and trip into the madness that lies therein:

Lord, grant that I may love my brother 

more than I hate his error, 

so that he may remember my witness

more than my disparagement.

-“Thinkling” (@Think1ing)

Amen? Oh, yes, Amen.

Ownership of the prayer belongs to a tweep who calls himself or herself “Thinkling.” I have no idea who “Thinkling” is, but he/she shared it with me today, after I posted Charles D. Beard’s piece on how Dorothy Day processed her witnessing to two friends who came out to her as lesbians:

Here Day models for us how we might deal with thorny questions surrounding human sexuality, and more importantly with the persons who pose them to us.

• How would I want someone to admonish me for my sins?
• When have I felt unwelcomed by other Christians, and what would I have wanted them to do differently?
• If I don’t want to admit even my private sins, what’s the best way for me to approach someone’s public sins?

As Day exemplifies for us, we should always respond to persons and never just to issues.

My great thanks to Beard for writing the piece, and to “Thinkling” for responding thusly, and giving me a great prayer to keep taped to my computer screen, for daily use.