"I'M ALWAYS CHASING RAINBOWS"

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I'm always chasing rainbows
Watching clouds drifting by
My schemes are just like all my dreams
Ending in the sky

Some fellows look and find the sunshine
I always look and find the rain
Some fellows make a winning sometime
I never even make a gain, believe me

I'm always chasing rainbows
Waiting to find a little bluebird in vain

Recently I put up an announcement that I am retiring from that social network called Facebook. I’m doing this because I feel that I am out of step with the world in general and myself in particular. I seem to have subscribed to something that makes my blood boil and my skin crawl. What is it?

All my life I have seen sadness in one form or another, in myself and in others. Sadness doesn’t mean being reduced to tears, it means a state of unhappiness that pervades your soul and colors your being. Growing up with a hearing loss put questions in people’s minds that perhaps I was just plain dumb. I don’t think I am, but people have opinions.

Losing a child to mental disabilities and her life of uncertainty and one that passed at a young age, I always try to laugh, give it my best shot and above all laugh at myself. My thinking is life goes on: let’s live while we can.

But what does this all have to do with Facebook?

I have been on Facebook for about 5 years now, and I have come across all kinds of people, some old friends and some new ones. I have seen how Facebook can be so supportive of people who are sick or have lost a loved one. But there seems to be a theme or two that keeps popping up that makes me gag, makes me wonder what they are thinking. These are otherwise beautiful people who must have a fear of what will happen to them in the afterlife, or they may be someone with a bully mentality that they will support the concept that we as the United States are always right, can knock off any nation in the world all we need to do is show up!

These are anti-social messages that are posted on Facebook everyday, If I like Jesus I should repost this, or give a million ‘likes’ to the cute puppy. If you are a loyal American, post this or that. Do I need to do that to prove my loyalty?

“Be careful about not living righteously merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).

And…

“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:5-6).

In the New Testament somewhere, Jesus said that we should go off somewhere quietly to speak to God, not post anything on Facebook about how much you love him. When we go to that final day and are judged, we won’t have a list of ‘Likes’ that were posted, just our own lonely actions. It is a lot like giving money to a poor man to feed his family rather than helping him learn how to survive, money being a small part of it, and taking one off the hook to do something for the man and his family.

Believe me, I am not a preacher, nor am I without sin, but I will freely admit it and you can see who I am, than hide it and not only lie, but cheat you too.

We all chase rainbows, and in the end although we see how beautiful they are, we know they are unattainable.