I struggle to make relevant, interesting status updates on Facebook (and I even sometimes manage to remember to crosspost them to Twitter). Due to the way the spheres in my life crash into one another, I tend to keep them relatively generic and detail-free. However, some of what I'm feeling almost always makes it through. So this week, I posted how I was feeling super fatigued and thinking I might have to drop a class yet again this semester (right now I'm thinking I might squeak through, but life keeps conspiring against me...). So here's the responses (which you can also see on my Facebook page):
- Sorry you aren't feeling well. I am a sicky too.
- I hope you feel better!
- Hope you are feeling better, Rachel - or are at least able to get some rest.
- ...but have you started the book?
- sending prayers your way.
- I recommend vitamin B12!
- Hope you get better!
These comments are from members of the church I'm serving, my aunt, a friend from the open mic I play, a friend from local pastor school, a friend from high school, and a friend from my favorite hangout spot in Cambridge. All of these people, many of whom I haven't seen in months if not years, were able to encourage me from wherever they happen to be in the world. Few of them know each other, and probably never will.
And yet, through Facebook, we're connected. Through Facebook, we're part of a community. I'm not going to make the leap that says that my Facebook friends constitute an ecclesia that is comparable to a purposeful Christian community. However, I think there's something to be said for the way that social networking sites allow "the assembly" to no longer be defined by physical boundaries.
There's a lot of anti-technology, specifically anti-Internet rhetoric in academia (totally subjective opinion, but that's my impression) as regards community. The concept of having church on the Internet is sure to ruffle quite a few feathers if brought up in the classroom or during community lunch. I'm always on the defending side, and the responses I got when I mentioned I wasn't feeling well are why.
If the church is the body of Christ in the world, does that body need to be together physically in order to be the body? Does Facebook (and MySpace and Twitter et al.) allow for new ways of being the body of Christ in the world? Can you have church on the Internet? What about incarnation - the physical embodiment of the Word that we remember and reinforce with the sacrament of Communion? Can there be a church without a building? What role can/do/should social networking sites play in the global body of Christ?
~peace&blessings~
Rachel, I, too, appreciate the words of support, care, and encouragement I receive through Facebook. But can our purpose and mission as the body of Christ be reduced to words? James 2 reminds us that words alone do not equal a faith that "works" (pardon the pun). Yes, Facebook and other social networks can be used as a supplement to nurture the bonds between members of the body, but they will never suffice for the hard work of sustaining the body through the actions of love and faith.
ReplyDeleteTo put it bluntly . . . talk is cheap. :-)
Good job so far on the blog!
I wonder if what you are talking about here is the theme of Church Universal, in a way? I know very well you're not a Lutheran, but one of the things that I felt acutely this past All Saints' Sunday was that, despite my extreme sorrow over the passing of my little granddaughters, during Holy Communion, I felt as if I were able to connect not only with them, but with my great grandmother and others who have preceded me in death, along with those who are living now, but just not nearby. It's not just the words, but the thoughts behind the words, and in my case, the ACT of praying for you when I saw you were feeling ill. Prayer can reach where my hands are unable to; it is an act of both faith and support, and it blesses both the giver and the receiver of the blessings. The Church is the body of Christ, we can link with others in the Church Universal by any means with which God provides us - such as Facebook. Does this substitute for a local congregation where one attends? I don't think so. But, I would also not underestimate the power of faith and prayer and communication by whatever means God puts in our way....
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