There is no place this is more true than on FaceBook. I had 221 friends one day and then the next day... 218. I have no idea where they went. Or who they were for that matter. Three people just... vanished.
I tried going up and down my friends list to see if I noticed anyone missing from my friends, but ... to tell you the truth... some of my "friends" are so random, I have no idea who they are.
People who have visited our church... people in our church... friends from high school... people from a conference I spoke at last fall ....family... extended family... some of the friends of some of my daughters... I know all of them. I recognize their faces. We chat.
But who are those other people? Where did I pick them up?
And now three people I possibly don't know are no longer my friends. I don't know if I should be offended or not.
I'm going to choose... not.
I probably didn't know them well and when they ran across my name on their list they just deleted me. Consider yourself "unfriended."
This isn't how friends used to be. Back a long, long time ago, like when I was in high school we used to meet our friends at places like the root beer stand, the drug store soda fountain and the swimming pool. In winter we met at the library. We even called people on telephones... the kind that were attached to the wall. We had to stand in one place and talk while wrapping and unwrapping the curly cord around the index finger.
We used to know each other well enough to know what movies we all liked. We made plans to go to those movies. And we met for a cherry or lime phosphate. We would peruse the little 45's at the drug store and debate for a half hour over which one to purchase for 49 cents.
Friends wrote on funny little pillows shaped like dogs or cats with ink pens. We were going to keep those pillows forever.
Friends used nicknames when they wrote in your yearbook. And all these years later it is a tad difficult to remember who went with each nickname. Tadpole...hmmmm... I can't place him... or her...
Friendships were different back in the 60's and 70's. We didn't "unfriend" anyone. And we didn't have 220. We had two or three.
Friends who knew your secrets. And you knew theirs. We were closer with our friends than we were with our family. And sometimes those friends were family. We shared thoughts and laughter. And sometimes those friends turned on you.
The Bible tells us there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18: 24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He knows our secrets, our fears, our worries. He shares our joys, our happiness, and our quiet time together.He calls to each of us today asking us to come spend a little time... far away from the noise, the clutter and the hubbub of the day. Come to him for a little bit of one-on-one friendship. Time to talk and to share our thoughts with each other.
And even laughter. Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
He will never vanish without a trace like my three FaceBook friends did.
And he will never, ever, not for an eternity, ever "unfriend" you.
I tried going up and down my friends list to see if I noticed anyone missing from my friends, but ... to tell you the truth... some of my "friends" are so random, I have no idea who they are.
People who have visited our church... people in our church... friends from high school... people from a conference I spoke at last fall ....family... extended family... some of the friends of some of my daughters... I know all of them. I recognize their faces. We chat.
But who are those other people? Where did I pick them up?
And now three people I possibly don't know are no longer my friends. I don't know if I should be offended or not.
I'm going to choose... not.
I probably didn't know them well and when they ran across my name on their list they just deleted me. Consider yourself "unfriended."
This isn't how friends used to be. Back a long, long time ago, like when I was in high school we used to meet our friends at places like the root beer stand, the drug store soda fountain and the swimming pool. In winter we met at the library. We even called people on telephones... the kind that were attached to the wall. We had to stand in one place and talk while wrapping and unwrapping the curly cord around the index finger.
We used to know each other well enough to know what movies we all liked. We made plans to go to those movies. And we met for a cherry or lime phosphate. We would peruse the little 45's at the drug store and debate for a half hour over which one to purchase for 49 cents.
Friends wrote on funny little pillows shaped like dogs or cats with ink pens. We were going to keep those pillows forever.
Friends used nicknames when they wrote in your yearbook. And all these years later it is a tad difficult to remember who went with each nickname. Tadpole...hmmmm... I can't place him... or her...
Friendships were different back in the 60's and 70's. We didn't "unfriend" anyone. And we didn't have 220. We had two or three.
Friends who knew your secrets. And you knew theirs. We were closer with our friends than we were with our family. And sometimes those friends were family. We shared thoughts and laughter. And sometimes those friends turned on you.
The Bible tells us there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18: 24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He knows our secrets, our fears, our worries. He shares our joys, our happiness, and our quiet time together.He calls to each of us today asking us to come spend a little time... far away from the noise, the clutter and the hubbub of the day. Come to him for a little bit of one-on-one friendship. Time to talk and to share our thoughts with each other.
And even laughter. Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
He will never vanish without a trace like my three FaceBook friends did.
And he will never, ever, not for an eternity, ever "unfriend" you.
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