Does the Internet Have A Soul?

by Rev. Dr. Christina Tillotson

Published in the April, 2023 Edition of Guide for Spirtual Living – Science of Mind Magazine

Does the Internet Have a Soul?

“If God is humanity connected, then the internet is God incarnate; a manifestation of our connection, a rudimentary form of hyperconnected humanity.”

~ Jim Gilliam, The Internet is My Religion, founder, NationBuilder.com

Do you like to go on sacred travel adventures? I do—because, with mindfulness, the entire journey becomes an opportunity to experience God’s presence in new and unexpected ways; everything becomes a sacred experience. As I begin writing these musings I am on a houseboat on the Nile as a participant on a profound, life-transforming trip to Egypt for New Thought Ministers led by Rev. Dr. Kathianne Lewis. There are 16 of us supporting each other in experiencing ancient energy and deep spiritual life transformations. Now, more than half-way through our fourteen-day adventure, I am contemplating the universal energy throughout all of creation that we have so powerfully felt and seen in visits to places like the Sphinx. That same hallowed energy continued in so many ancient temples and other sacred spaces that they are getting jumbled in my mind. As I contemplate the ancient energy we have experienced during the past week and today, I am considering all the ways universal energy is being revealed at this time in the evolution of humanity. All of creation is a manifestation of universal energy. It includes the life force the Chinese call chi, prana in yoga, the force in Star Wars, and of course, to the power  of God flowing through all of creation in the teachings of Science of Mind. For me, that universal impulse includes the energy of the internet, a powerful tool that allows humans to connect in ways never before imagined. No matter what the forms, visible or invisible, all of creation is sacred and all connections are energy. As Jim Gilliam wrote in his stellar book, The Internet Is My Religion, “The internet illuminates what has always been—our interconnectedness. It is not a tool or a thing. It is how we communicate with God. It is sacred.”

While serving as part of the migration of the internet from the Defense Department to education in 1995 in Washington, DC, I discovered that the internet is just energy moving in a specific manner. As with all methods of moving energy, we know that prayer, along with moving meditations—such as Tai Chi Chih™ yoga, breathing, and feeling the energy of various civilizations in travels, all serve as energy conduits.

The Urge to Connect

The Internet allows that energy of the universe to connect humans to each other in ways that we’re never available before in human history. Humans have always wanted to connect; from simple conversations and the sharing of information (and gossip) in the town squares in ancient times, to writing words on paper which evolved into the printing press that allowed humans to connect with each other in ways that were never available before and allowed the knowledge of humanity to be saved and shared. Ways to connect continued to evolve into the telegraph and telephone, and now the internet. The possibilities for connection capabilities beyond the internet are infinite, propelled by the human urge to commune with each other and with the whole Universe. The quintessential question is “Why”? What is it that inspires human beings to seek ways to communicate and connect with one another? If God is really all there is, one theory could be that it is how God communicates with and loves Itself!

In the temple of Horus in Edfu, Egypt, near the Nile between the cities Luxor and Aswan, the hieroglyphics include all of the powerful knowledge of ancient Egypt. The ancient scholars converted that knowledge from multitudes of papyrus scrolls into the hieroglyphics chiseled into stone that can be seen in that temple today. Because all the knowledge of ancient Egypt at the time was carved forever in stone, it could not be burned or lost. When Egypt was conquered by Greece and then Rome and then Rome was conquered by the Huns and barbarians, all that Egyptian knowledge written in stone was saved forever. According to our trip Egyptologist, that knowledge written in hieroglyphics is still being discovered and translated.

Now, all the knowledge that has connected humans from ancient times up until now is available with one click of an internet search engine. That knowledge does not all reside in one place, so if one part of the internet (a server in computer speak) goes down, the information does not disappear. It just disappears temporarily from one place.  That continuous connection to the past, to the present and beyond into the whatever the future brings is, to me, an example of the soul of the internet; is akin to the energy of the hieroglyphics of the Temple of Horus.

Now, not only can humans connect with all human knowledge, but they can connect with each other in ways that were never before possible. In teaching Science of Mind classes online to students in 20 countries and 34 states beginning in 1998, I experienced the deep, deep connections that people can have with each other, no matter what the technology. Even connecting in a slow, clunky dial-up chat room in 1998 before modern high-speed video conferencing was available, that same universal energy allowed the deep spiritual connections that spurred spiritual growth. It doesn’t matter what the specific technology is, but the energy of connecting though the invisible energy flowing through computers and other devices now allow people to connect with each other in ways never before possible in human history.  The value and necessity of those connections were quite apparent during the challenges of the Covid-19 lockdowns beginning in 2020. Most of those who chose to stay connected through the internet were able to thrive during those challenges.

I revere the fact that the internet is an example of energy changing form. When we go to any web page – in programming language all those ones and zeros – come together and show up on our device. That manifestation of a web page is temporary. When we leave that page and go to somewhere else on the internet, energy flows back into the universe until someone else links to that web page.  The energy keeps coming and going and coming and going and coming and going. For me, that a metaphor about how energy is used in all areas of life. It manifests into something, and then lets it go, and manifests something else and lets it go. Continuous creation and re-creation according to our choices; another example of how the soul of the internet sustains, expresses, and expands Itself.

Yes, we can choose to use the Internet to connect on a high level of consciousness, light and love, or we can connect in ways that are not life enhancing. But those are choices. Just as the law of electricity doesn’t care if we use it to light a room or to electrocute someone, this amazing expression of God called the internet can connect us in ways that are life enhancing or in less than beneficent ways. As with all human endeavors, it is a choice. What is our choice? Let us consider this question carefully the next time we switch on a computer and go online.

We need not travel to Egypt to have an epiphany about how we have collectively strived for countless millennia to stay connected to one another and the Beloved. The whole of humankind awaits our log-on to make the connection complete. The Internet really does have a soul; if we have the heart and mind to connect with it mindfully, we shall experience it.

What do you think about these musings? Please leave a comment below.