FACEBOOK AND LIFE

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith for the Years of Winter

We were calling on a friend in the hospital recently. A couple of nurses were in the room, and Helen was explaining that even though Joan had tried to hide from us, she had contacted her son on Facebook and thus traced her down. [1]

One of the nurses exclaimed, “Oh, don’t you just love Facebook?”

Helen quickly demurred, noting that even though it had been useful in tracking the elusive Joan, there was too much excrement on FB.

“Oh, I know,” said the nurse, “especially in this political season, but my son was in the army for 9 years, most of it in Iraq, and then Afghanistan. Afghanistan wasn’t too bad. He didn’t have phone or Skype or Facetime there, but we could instant message, and that was a real conversation. When he went to Iraq first, though, and I was so scared all the time, and there was no way to reach him by phone or any of those others, whenever he would post something on Facebook, I knew he was okay.”

She’s right, on both counts. It’s neat to learn that friends and family are okay. It’s irritating to have to see bumper sticker political statements. Buffoon Donald and Crooked Hillary posts don’t encourage helpful discussion about our political issues. They just enforce positions that are already too much like the lady about whom it was said that her brain was like concrete, “All mixed up and set hard.”

Occasionally someone posts a link to a thoughtful political article. That can be helpful. Be careful, though. I read one recently that promised to apply the Bible to politics. The author explained that the reason Republicans are said to be on the right and Democrats on the left is because of Jesus’ story about the last judgment, when the select sheep were put on his right and the outcast goats were on the left.

I like to see the personal stuff about friends and family on FB. I resent, though, having to spend time scrolling past long posts about stuff that doesn’t interest me. Oh, gosh, I’m beginning to sound like an old Sheldon Cooper.

Facebook is really just like life, isn’t it? Sheesh, now I’m really depressed.

JRMcF

johnrobertmcfarland@gmail.com

 1] Actually, her hospitalization was sudden and she had no time or memory or cell phone recharging cord to tell anyone where she was. We saw her again yesterday. She’s doing pretty well, everything considered.