Wrangler Dani

I love social media. I’m a complete junkie for Facebook, and now that I’ve finally allowed Twitter into my life – well, dear ones, you are never safe from 140-character ramblings and the complete oversharing of everything I love/hate/thinkisfunny/yougetthepicture. But as awesome as it typically is,  sometimes social media can be hurtful and weird, too.

Like that one time that I realized I hadn’t been invited to a party and saw pictures later on Facebook, or when an inside joke starts up and I feel out of the loop, or when, heaven forbid, I start comparing myself and my followers and friends to other people and wondering how on Earth they got to be so popular and what on Earth is wrong with my effervescent ramblings (Editor’s note. see “oversharing” above for a clue) into the virtual universe. (Not that I would EVER do that, of course. How petty! Pish tosh.)

But then again, quite often all this social media stuff is really amazing.

I saw a friend of mine’s Facebook status simply read “heartbroken” the other day. I immediately prayed “help, Lord” (the prayer of anybody who has ever been faced with life smacking them upside the head) and noticed the dozens of caring notes on her wall within minutes. Today, she revealed why: all of four months ago she was in her best friend’s wedding, and this week that same friend lost her new husband, who was serving in Afghanistan.

Holy snot-nosed tears, people. Since I am a world-renowned Facebook sleuth, I uncovered some wedding pictures of this couple that I only very vicariously know, and within minutes was bawling my eyes out – big, rolling tears and sighing sobs – the kind of crying I did for our Aunt Linda and 100-something gut-wrenching minutes of P.S. I Love You.

I am so aching for this girl I don’t know. I can’t even imagine myself as a widow, or one of our many young military friends in the same situation that her brave husband was in.

I am praying for her, even though that feels so empty and Christianesey to say. I know it’s the only thing I can do – not just the only thing, but the best thing. Even now, my eyes are brimming as I imagine a life without Adam’s strong arms around me every evening and whiskery kisses waking me up every morning, without the shared hopes and dreams of building a life together, the nurturing and growing that comes from loving someone more than you ever thought possible, making one another better as iron sharpens iron. There are countless sweet notes and prayers on her Facebook wall, and plenty on our mutual friend’s wall as well.  It’s a reminder that even in the cold dispassionate world of “The Social Network” there is love to go around, compassion and hope and empathy, even for someone who we barely know.

My heart and prayers go out for you, Kristen. There really aren’t any other words to say, nor anything else to do. I know none of this is the same as a real hug, and I hope you are getting lots of those. But know that there’s a great cloud of witnesses even in this virtual age, one that lifts each other up when life feels insurmountable, and one that is lifting you up, even we as have no other words to say but “help, Lord.”