One of the titles of Satan is Lucifer. Lucifer means “light bringer.” The devil and his minions have the ability to appear as angels of light, but they have found a subtler way to use light to bring about their evil designs. When you come down to it, the vast, interconnected web of human knowledge, creativity, communication and effort known as the Internet can only ever be accessed by light projected onto screens. Every line of code, every email and instant message, every photo and video, all of it is light. The Internet and computers in general are wonderful tools capable of multiplying human effort and ingenuity so that marvelous works and wonders can be accomplished. All of this happens because of light. But the Internet and computers and the light that they bring are not always forces for good. Trolls, rage baiting, flame wars, cancelling, doxxing, cyber bullying, pornography, grooming, scams, spam, doom scrolling, brain rot, filters, deep fakes - all of these things are created and transmitted and received as light. This is the kind of light that Lucifer the light bringer wants to bring to us. From the beginning on the very first day of creation, God saw that light was good, and it remains good to this day. But just as any of God’s creations can and have been corrupted or misappropriated for evil purposes, there are many men and women today inspired by demonic influences who twist the divine potential of the Internet and social media and smartphones and computers into much more nefarious purposes. Every time one of us has created or liked or commented on or just secretly cheered on in our hearts a video or a post that used cruelty or malice in an attempt to exploit or expose or exterminate another human being or group of people, then we have been instruments in the Light Bringer’s hands to spread the false light of contention, lust, hate, and despair. I hope that as often in the past that we have been drawn into liking, commenting and subscribing to the corrupting and false light of Lucifer, we will make an extra effort to instead use our Internet connected devices to spread and receive the Light of Christ and bring hope and healing and peace to the world.
