Beyond the Metaverse: How to Discover the True You

Lately, I have been hearing a lot about the Metaverse. As I understand it, the Metaverse is a combination of digital realities in which a person, using an avatar, can travel through a variety of virtual worlds. I am sure there are many good applications for it, and I am not here to judge the morality of the metaverse. Like anything, it can be used for our good or for our bad. Instead, I ask you to ponder with me an interesting connection between the metaverse and a very Catholic word: metanoia.

Metanoia is a Greek word meaning, “A profound, usually spiritual, transformation; conversion.” When a person encounters our Lord Jesus Christ and in this profound moment, chooses to follow Him, he or she experiences metanoia.

Every encounter with our Lord is different and unique to the person, but testimonies witness that what usually happens in these encounters is that a person sees God for who He is: Eternal Love, and through Him who he or she truly is: Beloved.

This encounter is so profound it draws the person to turn to God and this is conversion. If the soul stays on course by continuing to follow our Lord, he or she will experience multiple metanoias and discover over time his or her true identity as a child of God.

Metanoia works to draw us out of ourselves and up into the infinite mind of God. The word comes from the roots, ‘Meta Nus,’ meaning, “Go beyond the mind that you have.”

Unlike traveling through the metaverse – which apparently includes having to use a virtual reality headset and controller –  all metanoia requires is prayer.

Prayer: A Gift from God

The Little Flower, St Therese of Lisieux, breaks down what prayer is to the soul,

“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains how our prayerful “surge of the heart” is lifted, “Beyond the mind that you have,” by God:

“’If you knew the gift of God!’ The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him, (CCC, no. 2560).”

A Thought For Your Journey

Before you don a virtual headset and mentally board your flight to virtual worlds in the metaverse, take a moment and ask yourself, “What am I looking for out there?”  If it is a few moments of entertainment, then have fun! Just make sure you venture to virtual destinations where God would be welcomed.

If, however, it is to escape your present reality because where you are is nowhere you want to be, and who you are is no one you want to be, then put down the headset and controller and fold your hands in prayer, look to heaven, and cry for recognition and love.

In other words, give our Lord a drink. He thirsts for you.

If you need more help in knowing how to find your true identity in God, contact PilgrimCenterofHope.org.  We exist to help you encounter Jesus. We are here for you.

Nan Balfour is a grateful Catholic whose greatest desire is to make our Lord Jesus more loved. She seeks to accomplish this through her vocation to womanhood, marriage, and motherhood, as a writer, Missionary of Hope, Prayer Intercessor, Speaker Team member, and Volunteer for Pilgrim Center of Hope.

Answering Christ’s call, Pilgrim Center of Hope guides people to encounter Him so as to live in hope, as pilgrims in daily life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.