Reconnected

Almost two months ago, I deleted my Facebook account. I wrote:

One of the surprises of my sabbatical: I’m enjoying being unplugged from some distractions, like Facebook. I deactivated my Facebook account at the start of June, and I’m enjoying it so much that I deleted it a couple of days ago…

And it’s true. I loved being more unplugged and having one less inbox in my life. But last week I rejoined Facebook for two simple reasons, and one more complex one.

The two simple reasons: I want to keep up with my family, particularly my brothers, sister, nieces, and nephews. I was getting tired of looking over my wife’s shoulder as she looked at pictures of the shed my brother just built. Secondly, we made some new friends this summer who live far away, and it seems that Facebook is going to help us keep in touch.

But the more complex and profound reason is that a pastor friend of mine mentioned last week that it’s a useful tool for pastors to know what’s happening in the lives of people within the congregation. It’s not the only tool – it’s hard to beat spending time with people – but it helps.

I’m still going to stay unplugged more than before. I’m hoping to batch process emails (and Facebook) once a day. But for now I’m back on Facebook. We’ll see how long it takes before I’m either out of control or sick of it.