Honestly people. I’m getting sick and tired of that mantra that precedes some blather about “if you don’t copy and paste this nonsense, you’ll ________________…” Facebook is great for this. A large part of me says, as some of you may, ‘Get off Facebook if you don’t like it…’ That’s not a bad impulse and there’s a lot of rubbish floating around there, but… I tend to reject on shear principle the silly notion that we can’t or shouldn’t tackle a few wrongs and make them right. And since Facebook is really just the coffee shop combined with crappy email forwards, we shouldn’t shy away from the real problem and simply blame Facebook for the stage in which we behave stupidly.
I often feel like asking, “if I don’t copy and paste this narrative you’ll finally spare me this drivel?”
People today are quite willing to share, like, or copy & paste something that has to do with some genre of awareness. Fun little hashtags are often used as a reminder for us, if you can call them that. But what’s the real scoop here? Does shaming or baiting you into copying and pasting that stuff actually make you think about it? IF it does, and I’d wager that’s a big “if” do you actually act as a result? Serious question. Does being prodded like this, by whatever means, place in you in a position to act?
When you see the “Could at least one of my Facebook friends please copy and repost (not share)? I’m trying to demonstrate that someone is always listening. #SuicideAwareness“ little ditty, do you repost that jazz and go about your day, or do you actually think about somebody that HASN’T committed suicide, but needs the help? Are we energized to volunteer somewhere for a young unwed mother facing an unplanned pregnancy? What about counseling somebody who aborted that little baby when faced with the same decision years ago and has been regretting it all these years? Those people need the help. They need somebody to remind them they’re God’s children and we care. We do care, right?
James 1:22-25 – But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
#suicideawareness is just plain silly if all you do is forget about it once you’ve read the hashtag. You have to act in Faith, not just think in Faith. What I’m suggesting is you quit talking and start walking. That’s how we help some people and show them the Lord. I’m not saying insert yourselves into other people’s problems and monkey around. When you know somebody just got fired, or is getting a divorce, or has come back from their 3rd tour in the middle east, it’s safe to say they’d benefit from you just opening a dialogue and letting them know you care. Prayers are great and completely necessary, but acts make an impact. Trust me. I’ve both given and received, and it makes a difference.
Be salt and light my friends…