Caring

 February 21, 2023

Every so often when I go to Facebook to post my musings, I see a post, “Your Memories on Facebook.” Fair enough. I appreciate reviewing what I’d written a year or more ago. It’s the subheading that gets me: “James, we care about you and the memories you share here.” Anyone who believes that is a fool’s fool. Zuckerberg and his organization care about money and influence. They don’t care about you or me other than how we improve their bottom line. 

While it’s possible to care about people we’ve never met (eg. caring for victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, or those affected by the chemical spill in East Palestine, OH), imagining that an organization as large as Meta actually cares for a lowly peon like myself is laughable. 

I don’t say this by way of complaint. I don’t expect actual compassion from Zuckerberg, Schumer, Hochul, or Biden, or even my bishop. They don’t know me, and even supposing that they are genuinely caring people, them caring for me is a bit of a stretch. 

Sunday, I met with my friends at the Dunkirk UM church, people I haven’t seen in months. But I spent three years with them, and they somehow worked their way into my heart. Sunday afternoon, we sat down to a meal with family members, celebrating Linda’s and two other birthdays. In the evening, I met with four others who have covenanted together to seek God, and Monday led our men’s Bible study. These are the people I care about, and who care about me. It’s up close and personal; that’s the way a caring network works. Even those in my life who are today distant geographically remain in my circle of care, and I in theirs, because it all began face to face.

We live in a technological world that promised to bring people together; it’s possible, but technology as often as not, separates us. Just witness people sitting side by side with their noses in their cell phones, or the cyber bullying that has caused more than one teenager to commit suicide.

I am grateful tonight for the real life connections I have with people, for those who know me, and whom I know who add meaning and significance to my life. And I am grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ, who though distant in the sense of his ascension to the Father, remains close through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It still boils down to one simple ingredient: face to face love. I’ve received a boatload of it, and hope my feeble efforts have conveyed it to others…the ones I care about as Facebook could never do.