I Was Afraid This Might Happen

Uh oh, I was afraid this might happen.

Before I signed on to Facebook I was reluctant to do so because I did not want to “waste” a lot of time on-line. I had even read that there were people who were, in a certain sense, addicted to being on-line and would check their e-mail or other on-line social sites multiple times every hour. I read that there were people who had lost all contact with the “real” world and had been sucked into the digital vortex, living all of life through the electronic portal represented by the glowing screen to which their eyes were glued. It’s sad, isn’t it?

(Actually, I completely made up that sentence about the “digital vortex” and the “electronic portal” but I thought it sounded sort of cool and ominous.)

I finally relented, however, and signed up for Facebook.

That’s what brings me to this post. I was out of town from Sunday afternoon through early evening today (Tuesday). I was able to go to a local Starbucks, in the morning, in the town I was staying, to make my daily Facebook post. But I was in and out quickly just doing what needed to be done and not spending much time on-line looking at e-mail or even looking at the other posts that had been left by my Facebook friends.

Well, sure enough, it happened. I felt strange being “disconnected”. I felt like I was not in touch with people. I felt like I needed to “check in” but was unable to do so. Somewhere, somehow, over the past few weeks I’ve become . . . a . . . Facebook . . . junkie.

There, I said it. The shame and the guilt are somewhat diminished by having come clean and made the confession. I feel a little better. On the other hand, that may just be the allergy medication I took a few moments ago.

Is there any hope for me? Well, I know God can forgive me. But the road to healing and wholeness is a long one. Maybe, just maybe, I can be one of the survivors.

In the meantime, don’t tell anyone, but I’m sleeping with my laptop computer under my pillow tonight. Hey, don’t laugh. “Let him who is without digital connectivity cast the first stone.” [That’s a loose paraphrase of a powerful quote.] [Alright, I know, it’s a “very loose” paraphrase.]