I'm writing this blog as I have just been inspired by Facebook friend Trudy's blog today: layspeakingchick.blogspot.com, Deep Spirited Friends.
I first began to think deeply about The Web of Exhange through the works of Charles Williams who was a friend of C. S. Lewis. Williams used a term that was new to me: Coinherence. I found later that the Orthodox Church had long used a term for it: Perichoresis which is affirmed in the doctrine of The Trinity. We have stated this in Creed: I believe in one God. I believe in God who at the same time three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Bishop Ware: There is in God genuine diversity as well as true unity. And not just unity but community. Each one dwelling in the other two by virtue of an unceasing movement of mutual love. And that is how the human web of exhange works.
"The final end of the spiritual Way is that we humans should also become part of this Trinitarian coinherence or perichoresis, being wholly taken up into the circle of live that exists within God."
--Bishop Kallistos Ware
"May they all be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, so may they also be one in us. "
--The Gospel of John 17-21
I must say, after a few months of some trepidation, the Facebook experience has been a revelation to me. It is as has been variously described as a social revolution. I have found it to be a genuine Web of Exchange. And truly I have found there "deep spirited friends" here.
People have said to me, I don't want to know every little thing people are doing! And I certainly wouldn't want them to know what I'm doing every moment! I was thinking, but isn't that how face to face friendships work?
I was cautious. I took the best advice and after signing up for Facebook, I spent time just reading what people wrote. Saw what they were interested in, how they expressed themselves. I found I could pretty well identify the less than helpful who used bad language, who posted suspect photographs, or were generally up to no good. But I found so many kindred spirits too. Like striking gold.
I had formed friendships online first in alt. groups such as C. S. Lewis. People that I still communicate with online. The the Yahoo moderated groups came along and the spam was cut to almost zero. Those groups have been wonderful. Aldersgate a UMC group, Charles Williams, and sites like Goodreads. And now, of course, Facebook.
New people come before me or family members flung far and wide on the globe that I haven't seen forever, and fill me with wonder at what they write, think about. I hope I can do the same. And oh, what I've learned! Not the least, the fabulous humor of family and friends in Maine, and Montana and North Carolina. People who rescue dogs and horses and other animals. People who care for the health of our planet from ocean to rain forest. People who harbor, feed and cloth the homeless, or jobless. Authors, crafters, readers, artists, pastors, priests, teachers, breeders of horses, advocates for wild Mustangs and Burros, lovers of life from all walks of life. All people with faces! Daily I travel the web of exchange from Illinois, California, Texas, Arizona, Oregon, North Carolina, Colorado, Montana, Australia, South Africa, France, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Maryland, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Japan, Wisconsin. Not an exhaustive list; but those are the frequent electronic communicators. And I adore them! They are all deep spirited friends!
We pray and laugh together. We support each other, cry with each other, rejoice with each other, share. This must be an essential part of being human; to love and care for people one has never met and who one is never likely to meet. Must it not?
ANN'S ATTIC - AMBULAVI IN MIRABILIBUS SUPRA ME - I walk in wonders beyond myself.
I agree. Facebook has become my social life. I do not go out among a lot of people or have many social events,but I have many FB friends. Some relatives and friends, some missionaries and new friends around the world, and others that because of their interests, have interested me in becoming their friend too.
ReplyDeleteYes, I too get disgusted with langauge that isn't necessary , or insulting etc, but we can always delete it .
Thanks for your comment, Donna! It has been a blessing to meet so many wonderful people! Blessings, Ann
ReplyDeleteThat is a lovely testimonial to the value of a site like Facebook, value that the founder may never have imagined. I endorse all you said, Ann!I too don't have many face-to-face friends, esp. since moving across country, and those I have got to know on Facebook are precious to me. My only regret is that most of us can't actually meet in the flesh! But then, without the Internet, nothing of these marvellous friendships would have existed. - And, one perfect day, we will meet!
ReplyDeleteLove this C. Yes. One perfect day, my friend!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, but I was chatting to an online friend from Missouri a while back. She was talking about getting off the grid one day with her family and building a log house on some property they have out in the boonies. I mentioned to her that I could have been a great monk because I'm a bit of a loner at heart. I've thought many times over the years about moving back to Alaska (I was there during the 70s in the Army) and homesteading a piece of land out in the wilderness somewhere like the Brooks Range. I like people, but I REALLY like my alone time more. With the Internet I could almost think of doing something like that now because I'd still have some people around via the computer with a satellite link. And with web-cams you can talk face to face almost like real life except you can talk only to the people you want and not have any annoying neighbors.
ReplyDeleteBut then better sense took hold, and I began to wonder if maybe I could homestead in Hawaii!