A "Facebook-Official" Confession

source: http://www.someecards.com/lent-cards/facebook-friends-status-updates-lent-funny-ecard

 When I fasted from Facebook for Lent, I came to a few realizations.  One, that God gave me the same 24 hours in one day like He gave everyone else but unlike them I squandered my free hours on Facebook.  Two, my vocabulary is actually not limited to 240 words or however many characters Facebook allow you to post on one status update. Three, ignorance is indeed bliss - from gossip, calumny, toilet humour and quotes wrongly attributed to GK Chesterton, Abraham Lincoln, or worse, God.  Four, that I mostly preach to the choir and those who are not in my choir have probably blocked my pontificating posts or un-friended me from the moment I said "I love the Catholic Church". Actually, I came to more than a few realizations but these are the ones I can coherently write about.

It was a hard fast, harder than giving up chocolate or candy.  I've been on Facebook for almost seven years.  Being geographically separated from most of my family, it is a very convenient way of staying in touch (and in a special way with my childhood friends!!!).  The turning around and saying a temporary goodbye was rough. It was especially difficult when friends would tell me they miss my posts (hence, the prolific blogging! LOL). In the beginning, I had given myself the "pass" to check in on Sundays as it technically was not part of Lent.  Even this was limited to checking my own notifications and not reading everybody else's status updates. But then that ugly ball and chain that's been dragging me around is so unpleasant that I finally gave up the Sunday peeks. Every so often I would ask my husband if I am missing anything "fun" or "important" to which the prompt reply was "not really!" 

The chains slowly began to slacken and even before Easter arrived I entertained the idea of being forever Facebook free. But this week I started posting a couple of things again (coffee-euphoria induced LOL).  It somehow feels like that proverbial clanging cymbal and I'm finding that my words are once more stilted from the phantom of the 240 word limit. Oh well, that might be best for all involved :-)