November 22, 2010 – Sirach 8-9

Ch 8:18 is a message to all our young, and sometimes old, people that think that YouTube, Facebook, twitter and the like are a great way to get exposure.  You shouldn’t do things in front of strangers unless you are ready for them to whatever they please with it.  And you never know who is recording you these days with all the phones, which really aren’t phones anymore.  We must always be on our guard that we only do things we are proud of or that will not be embarrassing.  I know it is hard not to be embarrassing sometimes, but we should never open ourselves up to that on purpose.  If you do something accidentally and someone happens to catch it and embarrasses you, that is unfair and on their conscience.  But if you seek attention by doing something inappropriate and get caught on film, you really have no one to blame but yourself. 

This is also a guide for who to surround yourself with and who not to hang around.  It is a very simple and old guide, but I can’t really think of anything better or more appropriate that could be said.  It seems like with most the reading in Sirach, the world is in disagreement with Sirach’s advise.