Journal of Sacred Work

Remember the entries we all wrote in our high school yearbooks – especially the ones in our senior year? "Great knowing you, Marilyn." "Thanks for our years together on the football team, Larry." "Let's always stay in touch, Bobbie."
   Then life intervenes. People with whom we once shared a special connection vanish from our lives.
   Over the weekend, I decided to join an unusual village. The members of this community do not meet in person. There are no circle gatherings in which friends look into each other's eyes and share their joys and concerns. Through this odd new creation, called Facebook, I find myself connecting with people, including long lost classmates, in a new way.
   The members of Facebook, a contemporary creation only possible in this computer generation, meet in cyberspace. In a way partly similar to the community of the Journal, members of Facebook create a network of common interest for the purpose of sharing. By inputting personal information in your individual profile, such as schools attended, local church and hometown, members suddenly discover a whole array of people with whom they share something in common. Some are old acquaintances. Some are passing encounters which enter a new level through this odd meeting place.
   My son and daughters and their spouses are members of Facebook. I've already learned things about them that they might not have bothered to volunteer to me – things that help me feel closer to each of them.
   For those unfamiliar with the Facebook world or other similar systems, your personal page is somewhat protected by the fact that the network enables you to only admit people you know. Naturally, there is always the potential of abuse. And Facebook, I'm sure, has it's own list of downsides including the possibility of wasting time on the computer that could be devoted to more personal encounters.Thus far, though, Facebook seems to work for most participants.
   What intrigues me about these new cyber-forums, including Linked-in and Skype, is the way they provide a chance for human connection. I rarely see any of my 15 cousins, but I'm already in touch with three of them through this new community.
   The communities to which we belong bring meaning to our lives. In person gatherings are obviously superior to electronic interactions. But cyber-connections, like the one I am creating with you now through the Journal, give us a new way to see each other's hearts.
   Living Love is a daily challenge for caregivers. This is true, in part, because of the high degree to which we feel like strangers to each other. Caregivers are constantly confronted with intimate encounters with strangers. We are all part of the community of humanity. Anything which can lower the barriers that separate us provides the potential for us to celebrate our humanity with each other. This is a way that Love's doors are opened.
   What do you think?

-Erie Chapman