After much prayer I have made a huge decision. I decided to completely cancel my facebook. I have been batting this around for weeks...probably more like months. See, I have moved alot in my lifetime. I have friends all over the world. Facebook has been invaluable for me for catching up with old friends. But it also makes me lazy with my local friends.
See, you may be able to tell by my 'name' Koinoia Community that I have a deep desire for communication and fellowship and sharing. I find myself constantly frustrated that we just don't talk anymore. We close ourselves up in our houses or on our back decks surrounded by our privacy fences instead of chatting with our neighbors on the porch. We spend our time side by side in front of the television instead of playing games and chatting around the table. We eat in our cars after hitting a drive thru for dinner instead of creating it and eating a meal together. We text or we send a facebook message instead of talking because it is convenient and easy and safe. I remember when calling on the phone instead of talking face to face was the 'convenient, easy, and safe' choice.
We are so busy! We want it all. As a result we cram so much into our lives that we can't give ourselves fully to any of it. Just like cheap furniture we surround ourselves with more, more, more....but mostly it's just cheap. We send someone a message instead of checking on them in person and ministering to them when they are suffering because we simply don't have the time to spare. But, just like furniture, if we don't invest substantially in our relationships, they soon fall apart.
God created us to be social beings. He created us for fellowship. He created us so we would fellowship with him. He created us to share in each others lives....victories and failures. Fellowship makes our lives feel richer. It kind of reminds me of the old country songs about not having money or things, but having each other.
Isolation from others always hurts us. We forget how to interact with others. Our respect and concern for the lives and feelings of others starts to diminish. Look at the results of our isolation when you go shopping.....the guy that cuts you off or honks and sends you a signal because you didn't move quick enough and HE has somewhere to go....or the woman who whips into the parking space you have waited for....or the one who you encounter with your shopping cart who will hold her ground expecting you to back out of HER way. People need people. You don't hear any songs about being isolated and happy, now do you?
I realize that canceling my facebook isn't going to suddenly inspire everyone to change their habits and start getting together for bridge and quilting bees. We are busy people, after all. But I hope it frees up some of my wasted time so I can get together and fellowship with my friends and family more. I never got into farmville or any of those other games, but merely staying up with current events in people's lives was time consuming enough. See, no one told me anything anymore. They just put in on their facebook status or sent me a message and I had to sort through them all daily in order to be 'in the know'. And I did much of the same. I realize that I will be ignorant to quite a bit going on in other peoples lives as the result of my decision. But I will have to live with that. My prayer is that my relationships will become stronger as a result of having to be more intentional about them. After all, nothing worthwhile comes easy.
