When Facebook is on the Altar for Lent

Lent in Olde English, means "spring."

It's Latin equivalent, quadragesima, means "40th."

I'm always curious about the etymology of religious words we throw around.  Lent is a tradition in many churches of fasting for the 40 days before Easter, commencing on Ash Wednesday and finishing on Good Friday.

My church is not on the list of churches that observe Lent, but personal fasting is encouraged, and I happen to think Lent makes sense.  To fast in honor of Christ's 40-day fast in the desert and to prepare my heart for Holy Week, I have often chosen to observe it.

I did not abstain from a food this time around.  I decided to lay Facebook on the altar.  I miss it.  It's part of my daily morning drink coffee, read e-mail, check Facebook routine.  I want to know what my friends are up to, because their posts will often be the basis of conversations the next time we meet.  I want to put my little thoughts and activities out there and see what friends will say.

But let's get real and confessional.  I like controling my virtual image.  I like to think you're saying, "Oh that Jill, she's so witty and fun."  I can present myself anyway I'd like, but I can never flesh out the real me in two sentences of a  post.  Facebook often saves me from the hard work of real relatinoship.  It even competes for my time to have my real face in the real Book.  

Pretty much the same thing goes for blogging.  I'm creating an image, and even though I try to dig deeper and be honest, I'm still in control of the information you read. 

I'm not sure God likes it.  Like so many things, it's a virtue and vice.  It connects and disconnects.  It's a ministry and an idol.  It's real and pretend.  It's thumbs up and thumbs down.

And not surprisingly, I caved twice and checked people's status updates.  I allowed myself to post my blog links out to FB, and much of the time I used to spend on it was redirected to working on my blog and browsing Pinterest.  How quickly we swap idols.  

But fasting is NOT about celebrating an accomplishment.  It's about recognizing and owning our personal deficit.  When you realize how hard it is to give up something you love but you try anyway, your roots grow a little deeper and your arms stretch a little higher and you know more of God and more of man.