Reflecting on Facebook Memes

I know a lot of people hate Facebook and social media in general; and I tend to agree. Having said that, though, I just watched with a smile the first steps of my niece's youngest child, and I delight in keeping up at least a little with far-flung relatives and friends. Facebook makes that possible and it truly is a gift of family.

I also enjoy many funny memes that give me a little laugh to start the day. Innocent laughter is also a gift. We don't need dirty jokes and potty humor, just good clean fun and happy laughter. Innocent laughter is deeply Catholic as Hilaire Belloc said in verse:

But profound things also pop up on my daily feed, things that set me thinking, like the quote above from St. John Chrysostom. How many people sell their souls for human respect? Judging from the political and entertainment landscapes, I'd say the number is legion. And yet even famous people are mostly forgotten in a few short years.

Think about man on the street interviews where random people can't identify any of our founders except, perhaps, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. How many can identify Nathan Hale, Lighthorse Harry Lee, or George Mason. Could students at George Mason University tell me who he was and why the school is named after him? 

If I asked a millennial to identify the heartthrobs of my teen years, like Tab Hunter, Frankie Avalon, Ricky Nelson, Pat Boone, etc. I expect I'd get nothing but blank stares. Pat Boone? Isn't that the old dude advertising walk-in bathtubs? Would they know who George McGovern was? How about Walter Cronkite or Edward Murrow? 

Even in families, except for those who delve into family history, ancestors are forgotten in just a few generations. I know almost nothing about my great grandparents. Who were the first in my dad's line to come to the United States? I don't know. I often pray for my ancestors, especially those who passed on the faith, but my prayer has only the family name and no faces attached to it. And the same will be true when I go. My children and grandchildren will remember perhaps. My great grandchildren likely won't. 

There is nothing wrong with trying to please those we love, but never at the expense of offending God. Think of parents who affirm fornication, adultery, and sodomy lest their children walk away. "I can't alienate my children," is a common mantra. I'm always tempted to say, "Well, sure, don't alienate your children, alienate God." I recently told a family member that we can disagree and still be friends. Family loyalty is praiseworthy, but not if it involves betraying God. 

The desire for human respect is a deadly temptation. Succumbing to it always ends badly. May we all desire nothing but God's holy will. It's in bending our wills to His that we find true life, true love, and true happiness. "They kingdom come, Thy will be done."

Let it be said; let it be done.