Wednesday

I've taken a break from Facebook.  It's amazing to me how much time it takes to just catch up with 24 hours of friends' activities.  Oh, I've done the filtering thing on the site:  I've set the "settings" on each contact to show me just the "important" things (however FB defines that), and only the "life events," "status," and "photos."  And still I found myself spending too much time scrolling through the happenings and views of others. So, four weeks ago I posted that I was temporarily deactivating my account.  Three weeks ago, I did just that.

I appreciate social media; it allows me to feel connected to friends and family, colleagues and classmates while I am geographically separated.  I enjoy hearing about the children of my nieces and nephews, the travels of my siblings, the "church stories" of colleagues in ministry, the life happenings of former parishioners.

Faith and ministry are both about connected-ness, about relationships, and about the inter-related-ness of souls.  As in any connection, deep and honest communication between the parties is essential to continued growth, ongoing trust, and, frankly, the success of the relationship.

Deep and honest communication.  Facebook statuses are not deep and not always honest.  They may be informational. They may be humorous.  And they may even express a deep thought.  Deep and honest communication requires more than digital dots on an electronic screen.  Deep and honest communication requires listening from the heart, discerning the heart and (e)motion of the speaker, and sharing in the experience of the other.

The word "companion" has significant meaning for me.  "Com" means to share with.  "Panos" comes from the word for bread. In ancient cultures, sharing bread with another is the sign that the two are equals, inter-related, and bonded.  Bread is a basic need for human sustenance.  Sharing bread indicates the base similarity between those around the loaf.

Faith and spiritual growth does not happen without the same sharing of bread -- both with others on the journey and with God.  It requires listening from the heart; discerning the heart of God; sharing in the joy, pain, frustration, tedium of our Partner on the journey.

In our world of social media where even young teens have hundreds of "friends,"  too often we practice "Facebook Faith."  Too often we spend inordinate amounts of time on the informational, pictoral, and in-passing aspects of our faith relationships. Too often congregations expend more energy on the mechanical and mortar aspects of life together than being (with) the Body of Christ.  This is not the bread that feeds us.  This is not the bread the nurtures our growth.  This is not the bread of life.

I've taken a break from Facebook while I ponder, explore, and seek to reconnect with the bread that feeds the soul, nourishes the spirit, and grows the spark of Christ within me.