You may not be surprised to learn that I have deactivated my Facebook, after that last poem I wrote. During Mass yesterday it finally sunk in that this has to be a time for prayer and fasting. I asked God what He wants me to fast from and I knew the first thing had to be Facebook.
Please excuse me while I get up on the soapbox again and rant about how silly Facebook can be. I’m afraid that by becoming our main form of communication it has lessened the quality of our relationships. I can learn all about another person without ever having a conversation with him or her – that’s just creepy! So I went to delete my profile this morning and thought it would be a simple matter of pushing a button. But no – like a co-dependent ex Facebook tried to coerce me into staying. First it tried to tell me that it can give me something no one else can: “Your 599 friends will no longer be able to keep in touch with you.” Firstly, those 599 people are not all my friends. Secondly, WHEN DID FACEBOOK BECOME MY ONLY FORM OF COMMUNICATION?!?! Last time I checked I can call, email, or skype my friends…
Then the guilt: ____ will miss you, with lovely pictures of five of my friends. Well yes, all of these people will miss me when I enter the convent, where my main form of communication will be good old-fashioned letter writing. And this backfired because one of the people Facebook picked is a girl I am entering the TOR’s with…I will hopefully be seeing her lovely face every day for quite a while!
And lastly it is apparently required that I tell Facebook why I am leaving. I chose “other” and explained that I am entering religious life, which does not allow me to have a profile. Hey, they asked!
Well now that’s done – let the fasting and praying begin. (Of course Facebook made sure to tell me how easy it is to come back)
I keep talking about times of preparation and how they’re super awkward – well I better get comfortable with awkward for the next two months. God is going to ask me to be still – to really examine the depths of my heart – and that’s downright terrifying.
Thank goodness, God knows that I can’t do this alone and has given me a wonderful friend for the journey. Our lives compliment each other wonderfully. She is most certainly called to marriage and I, of course, to religious life. All of the Vocations should illuminate one another and work together to communicate the multi-faceted love of God. Marriage reminds us of the nuptial nature of God’s Love, but religious life reminds us that in the end God alone can fulfill us. I would say our friendship does that pretty darn well. She is joining me in solidarity as I prepare to enter the convent.
Lately, God has been calling us on parallel journeys – seriously the coincidences are getting scary! St Therese keeps sending us roses, usually red and white ones together. August 11th is a special day for both of us (I will let her tell you why that is). This past Sunday marked two months until that day. We both experienced direct and belligerent attacks from the devil, trying to deter us from our Vocations (ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat!!!).
I can’t express how excited I am to see what the future holds! I know that God will use us to witness to the complimentary of the Vocations and His Love.
writerwithacause.wordpress.com 
Gotta love solidarity! Holy Saturday IS super awkward so I’m giving up chocolate (return of the troll).
and I know nothing.
Random comments? Not at all!
Praying for the both of you and your respective vocations. Quieting our souls, stilling our egos, sacrificing our personal opinions and thoughts so that God can fill us with His is no easy task and accomplishment. It takes a life time of effort of dying to our own thoughts, opinions, egos, dying to ourselves, our wants and desires. It’s never ending and we never fully arrive at that destination in this life time. Personal egos, personal opinions are so ingrained in those of us of western culture. Just being fully self-aware of all of that is a tremendous task
God Bless both of you.