I recently added myself to the online social network of Facebook. It allows me to send emails, make comments about friends lives and see pictures of their adventures and familes. I found that MySpace was too avant-garde for me….and I needed simplicity and basics….Facebook offers that and a way to see what Benjamin is up to at Duke:) In the process of just trying to stay connected to several friends, I have found a network of old friends. We, as part of our nature, have a tendency to be less attentive to folks that aren’t in our everyday lives like they may have been at one time. I personally know that I would think of someone, but be reluctant to send a note because it had been so long since my last “reach out”. With Facebook, I can send a comment or note and it seems if we just talked yesterday. Facebook also allows me to look into my “friends” lives…see their pictures, comments and what is "in general" happening in their space. Because of networks like this the “season” of friendships seems less likely to have a end…..and I wonder about how that will work in the balance of our worlds.
Fun stories of mine through Facebook, I reconnected with a couple of people from high school recently….a dear friend, Debbie, and a musical friend, John. Debbie and I got together a couple of weeks ago and it was as if 25 years just completely disappeared. We laughed, cried and ate….talked about the past, our shared one and the one that we had been missing of each others, the present and our futures. Debbie is a friend that the season should have never ended and the root was still there all these years later. When I was in high school, I was a choir folk….and had many friends in that organization and at other schools. In addition, we had a bible study that Debbie hosted that was fun and a bit more social than the studies I do today. Debbie’s mom and house was a refuge for me…. I have always thought of that time fondly….and now it seems to be bringing back the wonderful memories. Debbie hasn’t changed a bit….she has a wonderful smile and a great spirit and my admiration and love for her has been reignited. What fun to reconnect….
My friend, John, has brought a new sense of joy into my life. John and I were classmates and the occasional musical friends (he was in the band), but nothing much more than that….and yet there is something and had been for 25 years. John and I began dating recently….I’m not sure where it is all going, but I do feel the hand of God in this relationship. Even though I haven’t dated a strong Christian in a very long time, I knew that God would only want that relationship for me, but I wasn’t willing to be patient. John was baptized about 20 years ago and his walk with God has been a journey of faith….and he has helped me to get excited about what God can do with our journey.I don’t think that Facebook will bring back every friend that I have lost touch with in the past 43 years, but it may help keep the season a little longer or give me the chance to have my looking glass into my past, present and futures friends’ lives. Facebook has been a fun adventure into the past and may be a great tool for keeping a future with friends that live away now that I live in the country.
