FACEBOOK

I joined Facebook a while back but was hesitant to use it for many reasons. But I kept getting invites to be friends on Facebook and it seemed no one was ever on MySpace anymore, so I reluctantly went there and as usually happens with something new I am having a great time with a new toy that has lots of gadgets and places to explore

It was during one of my explorations that I found a Pastor (whose local church broadcast in my area on Sundays) was on facebook. On the surface I was delighted since he holds most of the same views as me about what a Church and a faith walk should be.

I would like to apologize to him in case he ever reads this, because it took me 2 days to send him a friend request and there were moments that I was not sure I wanted him as a friend. All the while this poor man, who does not even know me, is going about his life without a clue. By the time my brain was through with him I had turned him into a cross between God and Santa Claus.

My first thought was, what will he think of my friends, I am happy with my friends, but would he see them through my eyes or judge them by the language they use or the number of tatoos or piercings they have. So I did a quick scan of my wall and was alarmed to find that not only was he going to be judging my friends, but there were comments from their friends as well and some of their friends used worse language, had more piercings, tatoos, strange hair colors, all things that don't really bother me, but he has no right to judge these people based on how they look and speak, he should get to know the people behind these mask, he would be surprised at the sheer goodness of many of these people.

Then I realized he would be able to go to my blog and see the good, bad, and ugly the real me.... I have written nothing I am ashamed of but here he comes with his list and that frown I grew to hate, checking off all my sins, judging me without knowing me. Who on earth does this man think he is anyway. I was really not liking him.

I went to his notes to see what evil he was saying about others, he had not hidden it there for anyone to find, but worse he had another diabolical test a plot to see what kind of evil music I listened to....Who is he to judge, here comes that evil grin, and the check off list I want to snatch from his hands and slap him upside the head a couple of times with.

So I raced to my list of music to see what evil dwelled there. Thank goodness I had not gotten around to loading Strokin, by Clarence Carter yet, but how would I explain the rest of my song choices to this list maker with the evil grin.

Then I remembered an article I had read a few years ago about how a Pastors wife is often ostrasized in church, how people judge her as being holier than thou and will seldom sit next to her in church for fear of her judgement on them. How the only people who ever invite the preacher and his familly over are the ones who are sure their home and life will hold up to the scrutiny of these greatly judgmental people.

I thought about who really judges me, my actions and my friends. I asked myself if I really thought he was this kind of a person, would I even think of sending him a friend request.

Then I asked myself why when so many Pastor's are condemning facebook and other social sites, why did he join facebook? Did I truly believe that I would admire a man like that, did I not know myself better than that?

I have no intention of asking him these questions and yes I do know me better than that. I think that he joined facebook not to sit in judgement but to meet with people of all different walks of life, like my friends and theirs. I think he wants to get to know the real people behind the masks we all wear. Not to judge them but to love them as the truly unique people that I see through my eyes.

I love all my friends, including him. And the only person doing any judging here is sadly me! Oh I can try to fool myself into believeing I am trying to protect my friends but the truth is I did not want someone I admire to think badly of me. We have all been guilty of this and I plan on trying to strive to give people a chance and not assume that someone I like is that different than me because, they have a strange hair color, those huge holes in their ears, questionable language and friends or they preach in a church!