"What I should have said was nothing."

I love Twitter.

Never in my (wildly insufficient, cursory) knowledge of human history has there been a forum for someone to have a thought and then instantly share it with the whole world, and for someone like me - with no filter - Twitter can be a lot of fun. And it can be a lot of trouble.

"I think there is something wrong with my brain where I don't have an on-deck circle for ideas, you know, just 'Batter up!' A lot of the ideas are bad and are at the plate going, 'I don't know about this one, Mike.' I turn into a drunk Little League dad: 'You go take some cuts, Son.' That pretty much sums up my social inadequacies." - Mike Birbiglia

Generally I'm not too embarrassed by Tweets that escape my fingers before my brain has a chance to step in, but there are times when I'm glad I've stopped and thought. Take, for example, my genius disclosure at the grocery store yesterday. I (finally!) found some tea that I was convinced was no longer available, so my micro-update was going to be:

"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people! For unto you today is available regular-caffeinated Celestial Seasonings Chai tea - not that decaf crap! Hallelujah!"

Before I could send it, something made me think of my classmate TR. She must be one of the most pious people on the planet. I remember one chapel service when another classmate put her tea bag on the communion plate (this was AFTER the service was over when we were cleaning up the altar, so the plate was going to the kitchen anyhow) and TR almost had a stroke. She held so much reverence for the plate. In her eyes, if the body of Christ was on that plate - even for a second, and even if it were gone now - it was unfit to carry garbage.

Then I thought of my friend and classmate AN. She alone makes me so excited about the future of the ELCA because she's going to be a fantastic pastor. She's funny, smart, interesting and kind. She wouldn't Tweet something that used a verse in a cavalier way, and I ought not, either.

It's funny: I used to relish finding Biblical allusions in everyday life. I remember watching an episode of Dawson's Creek in junior high; Joey's older sister scolded her for betraying her, saying, "Your name isn't Josephine - it's JUDAS!" I wanted to jump up and down in front of my friends, like, I get the reference! I get the reference!

I think it's different now. I meant no malice in the Jesus' birth/finding my favorite tea remark, and in the same breath, I'm finding it important to treat all things religious with more reverence. I guess these little revelations are why we came to seminary.