Life Through The Peculiar Lens Of Social Media

If you have a lot of family, friends, and contacts of various kinds on social media you might have had the kind of morning that used to be known only to doctors, nurses, counselors, pastors, and so on. That is the simultaneous observation of the full spectrum of life events. Sometimes, within minutes we read of births, graduations, new jobs, marriages, divorces, retirements, sickness and death. 

For me, it has been one of those mornings. A friend's dad is in precarious health. Another friend lost a close friend of decades to the inevitability of physical death. Literally within seconds of reading about this friend's loss on my Facebook news feed, I saw a great picture of friends with their beautiful daughter who was born overnight. This nearly instant view of the major life events of our family and friends is sometimes a cause for great joy, on those days when everybody seems to have good news. Other days are frankly, depressing, when nobody has anything to report except illnesses, trouble at work, or failing relationships. Most common however are days like today, when the full cycle of life is on display. 

Social media, Facebook in particular, are filled with jokes, pretty pictures, political rants, advertisements and more. Do with those things what you will.  But keep a watchful eye for what really matters. Don't just read what you see like a newspaper. Engage with each other. Participate with each other in the miracle of life itself and our shared experience as we pass from cradle to grave with hope of the life to come.