We hear lots about the time suck of social media. And, it must be admitted, for a person who’s not particularly fond of cats, I’ve watched an awful lot of “cute kitty videos.”

I try very hard to post positive things and to stay out of the drama. I’m not always successful.

But I love that this tool allows us to reach across space and sometimes time and connect. This month, my brother’s childhood bestie is retiring from 41 years of ministry. Well, this version. He’s starting something else soon. And i get to watch. Watching him helps me remember my parents and his. Creek swimming creeps into my mind. Church Picnics. ah. It’s an odd but effective way of being present, even in a small way. I’ll take it.

Today a new/old friend is moving into my little village. We went to grade school together and then on to different schools and lives, which intersected only occasionally. But one FB friend, added as my high school class began to get connected, connected me. She lived in Oakland, I was going to be there, and there we were, one long lunch later, new friends with history.

I keep faith with a friend from college, with whom I wouldn’t if it had to be telephones and letters, but Faye keeps me thinking and helps keep me constant in a prayerful look at our world. She lives her her faith out differently than I do, and I trust and rely on her observation and counsel. We’re sisters in the struggle and companions on the journey. I’m better for her and for all these friends.

There are times that that zigzag between one world and the next is the odd wonder of cyber-worlds that intersect what passes for our real world in our little vida local. That can, if you choose, be about drama, but it can also be about Peace. So Welcome, Karen, and good job and good luck, Blair. In my sister’s past, when she was in first grade and did well, her teacher offered her the hand of good fellowship. I offer it to you. I take heart and encouragement from the work you do. Blessings, and Blessed be. Peace be upon us all.