“FACEBOOK(FB) can be insistent. Emails arrive saying we haven’t seen you for a while, you’re missing out! And more people want to be friends. Follow me!!!This cyber community is chasing us every time we log on. Link in. And many do follow! It can be addictive. What is everyone doing? What are the old pals now? It’s not good to be alone. It is not good that we should be alone. We have known that for a long time. From the beginning, Genesis tells us a truth; opening up to us in these well-known and deeply treasured stories the truth that God wills us to intimacy and friendship.( Genesis 2:18-24) This is how God created us, to be in communion with the world around us and each other. There is a truth in this Word for all of us, whatever our personal situations DON’T isolate yourself. Being aloof from the world and each other is not the Christian way. It does not mean we stock up with hundreds of friends on FACEBOOK or push ourselves to be gregarious and social butterflies when that is not our nature. It calls us to engage honestly with those we do share our world with, in whatever way we are shaped. You have to trust a few friends to let that happen. It won’t happen if you are self-absorbed, self-obsessed or filled with self-pity. Allowing good friendships to really shape us and bring the best out of us. To let people influence us and help us to grow as people so that we can create each other. If you are self-obsessed, selfish and mistrustful of others, you’ll never grow. Trust someone and see what unfolds .It might lead to pain, but that is where love brings us. And God does not leave us alone, no matter what”.
-Donal O’ Neil
