LOVE SPOKEN
ON FACEBOOK (AND IN LIFEBOOK)…
Recent
research shows that those who positively post images and talk good about their
relationships on Facebook are happier in real life (“Can You See How Happy We
Are? Facebook Images and Relationship Satisfaction” from http://spp.sagepub.com/content/4/4/411.abstract?rss=1).
Let us read
this research right: The posting and talking on Facebook does not lead or make
the couple to grow closer and fonder in the first instance. However, the fact
that the couples are broadcasting their feelings is because the couples are
already closer and enjoying colorful time together, so much so that it can’t
help but spill over onto their daily social activity that includes Facebook. I
am sure if you listened in to a couple of private conversations with friends
and family, the same love hue and aura of satisfaction would show.
First of
all, this came as a huge relief! (I have always had this hushed fear that some
mistake my openly pronounced love for my loved ones (especially, for my dear
wife) for bragging; now I know that I wasn't faking it after all, and I can be
truly now be counted among those that are happy). As much as this is hard to
accept, couples who enjoy their love much less show in real life, because it is
really hard to pretend that things are fine when all is pain and gloom
inside! (How hard it is to hide a painful limp in a "forced marathon"!) Sooner or later, one comes to realize that if you can’t appreciate your friend in secret and in the little things, then that appreciation won’t just be conjured up before men! If it is not in the heart, then it won't sprout! It should first come from the heart, then it will blossom and be expressed unrestrained for the world to see… even if it means placing it on Facebook! One would do this without shame, as it will be as sincere as it comes! For once, Facebook is no “facemask” when it comes to love expressed!
Secondly, a
spiritual point on the final judgment came to mind! Judgement by the supreme
God at the end of time is a theme that cuts across most religions. For most
Christians, this concerns the Law of God, salvation by grace, and the role of
our works in it all. If God will judge us by works (2 Corinthians 5:10;
Revelation 20:12 and 13), how is it that the same Bible says we are saved by
grace through faith and not of works (Ephesians 2:8 and 9; Galatians 2:16)? A
careful reading of scripture shows that we need to blend the two: the same
Bible says that faith without works is dead (James 2:14 to 26; Ephesians 2:10;
Titus 2:7 and 14). Now that makes sense, because if you love God, then this
will show through your daily life choices – which are your works, as James
clearly illustrates. The ways of your life will show exactly on whose side you
are in this conflict of good and evil: God’s side or the devil’s, and any
pretenders are put to shame (Titus 1:16). When to it comes to practical living,
you and I can never pretend or hide: those who live around us know whether or
not our love for God is coming from the heart, because it will show in our
lives everyday, even if we don’t want it to! It comes off naturally that we
reflect the master within us! Life hides no masks: it’s “Lifebook” perhaps
(rivaling “Facebook”?)! Almost like a child's love, real love for God will always show!
So, I can
freely love my God (and my wife: with God’s help, I do not plan to stop saying
it and living it)!
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