In today fast communication, instant information, cryptic text messages, thousands of FB friends. I get a sense, maybe because I’m old, that everybody that has something to say, but do not have someone to listen.

I write in first person and from my personal experience, since my only expertise is just been old. But I find that is hard to find anyone that has time just to chat. I am personally lucky that I have good communication with my wife and children. With my wife sometimes is difficult because we know too much of the other and try to guess what the other is going to say. With my children, they are busy persons with children to rise and careers to pursue, when we get together, more often with the two in the area that with the other two out of state, there are so many things going on that it is impossible to chat. With my friends, the ones that are alive and able to communicate, we do not socialize that much. So now we are connecting to each other by Facebook and finding out about our grandchildren, and exchange memories.

Writing this blog on how different communication is today I remembered when I was in Detention Ministry, that we organize a Pen Pal Ministry; groups of people to write to the inmates. Warning, this is a special ministry that require special well trained individuals, if anyone is interested contact me .I will refer to the proper place.

The inmate live surrounded by people, like him/her, that don’t care about the other, who will try to get out something from the others and nobody can’t be trust.

A Pen Pal is someone far away that offer security, because of the distance, and allow some level of intimacy.

In the modern world any one in Facebook is a friend, most of the time we have seen each other for a long time and in many cases we never meet each other. There are so many people so lonely that have an impulse to accumulate friends, and I wonder if they have a shoulder to cry. The openness of Facebook does not permit to have any level of intimacy.

Intimacy has nothing to do with sex; in the modern world many people have sexual partners with no intimacy at all. That is for another blog.

How many people just post in Facebook knowing that many people will read it and don’t care? How many beautiful phrases about love and trust, sacrifice, mothers, children, etc. and I wonder if it post because is nice or really means it?

When I see press like if you love Jesus I feel like posting back “I you like Jesus don’t say it, do it. Loving is not talking the talk love is waking the walk.

Yes I feel alone in the crowd so I try to reach to someone that is also alone and offer my ear to listen so he/she doesn’t feel alone. And helping the other I help myself