Internet, I Have Bought Your Soul For God!

This is probably one of my favorite literary lines. It is spoken by the good bishop to Victor Hugo’s character Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. After the convict has stolen from him, instead of pressing charges with the authorities, the bishop pretends that he has freely given Valjean the silver from his home. When questioned, he convincingly claims he had also intended for Valjean to take the candlesticks. As the surprised Valjean is ready to leave, the bishop challenges him with this:

Jean Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!

And it worked. Even though Valjean had actually been guilty of stealing and had made no admissions of his own plans to change, the bishop fought for him anyway. If you know the story, you know that Jean Valjean does change his life. It is a beautiful story of redemption.

Once in awhile, I hear concerns about the the Internet being used for wicked purposes. Even people like me who love the Internet cannot deny the dark forces of pornography, gambling, and spiteful interactions on social networking sites. Recently, I read that even my beloved Facebook is guilty - reportedly being listed in many divorce documents. (Something to keep in mind, Rare Rocks.)

But last week I watched as a prayer meeting took place on Twitter. I’m not kidding. Several groups in the Nashville area gathered to pray for a young girl with cancer. Carlos Whittaker (from the blog Ragamuffin Soul; this is my favorite recent post) suggested the online participants send in pictures of themselves with their hands outstretched in prayer. One by one the Twitpics popped up on my reader. Later, Whittaker complied some of the images into a collage and posted it on his blog. Go look! You can join in prayer for this little girl, too.

As I watched that Twitter prayer meeting (people were also gathered in real time, face to face at a church), I felt like Whittaker had acted like the good bishop toward the Internet, buying its soul back for God’s purposes. Amen.