Same time, same place, same book?

It seemed a little silly to me at the time, but I wanted to be a good sport about it.

After all, I spend virtually my entire workday in front of a computer screen, researching, writing and mousing image and text boxes into their proper positions on pages. Usually the last thing I want to do at day's end, or at day's beginning for that matter, is to set myself down in front of another computer, for whatever reason.

Still, I had been intrigued to hear of the proliferation of social networking sites on the Internet, and though I didn't think I really had a place there, I let my grown daughter, Lisa, sign me up.

That's been several months ago now, and I must admit, my misgivings were misplaced. I have made "friends" with two of my three children, seven nieces and nephews, all of my brothers and sisters and one of Danny's sisters, to say nothing of reconnecting with two former "young mothers" from the years at Sylmar Manor Mobile Home Court. One now lives in Idaho, the other in Florida. We had promised to keep in touch way back when, but raising our children, all grown up now, proved to be too great an obstacle to overcome.

Other friends include two former pastors, a lovely woman from Massachusetts I've never met, but have come to know through her freelance writing, current and former co-workers, and the list goes on.

I tried to explain Facebook, the social networking site shared by uncounted millions around the world, to Danny, who uses the computer only when absolutely necessary, usually to research some home repair he's struggling with. It was kind of hard to put into words. I ultimately compared it to walking through the neighborhood or local grocery store, where you make a quick connection with friends, sharing a quick wave, and a sentence or two to catch up. Mostly, you just get to share a little piece of everyone's day. You can add a quick comment, or send up a quick prayer when struggles are shared. Or you can just rush through, stopping nowhere, but still feeling like you've participated in their lives, however vicariously.

There also are myriad games on Facebook, and as members advance through a particular game, milestones are posted on their status. I really don't have the time, the inclination or the bandwidth to play those.

But there are other challenges issued, friend-to-friend, that can be accomplished with just a few keystrokes.

One in particular involves grabbing the book closest to you, turning to page 56 and typing the fifth sentence into your status box, including the instructions just outlined. It resulted in some obscure, seemingly meaningless statements that defied explanation apart from the overall context of whatever book was closest to the player.

Example: "The general guideline is that you convince someone of something or that something is true but you persuade someone to do something."

Or: "I didn't even have time to close my eyes."

Then there is: "In most cases Litia would have been stoned, but Stephen knew all the right people to make problems go away."

Page 56, sentence five in the book closest to me when at my home computer reads: "You might spend each day making million-dollar, split-second stock market decisions."

Just looking at these random sentences, you can begin to imagine the chaos that would be contained in a book made up of nothing but Facebook directed selections, all quoting the fifth sentence on page 56.

Meaningless babble barely describes the inevitable result.

I think the folks in Washington, home of the Library of Congress, which has I don't know how many books, must be taking each book down, one at a time, turning to page 56 and copying the fifth sentence. Then they insert that obscure passage into their stump speeches, their canned responses to the press -- even to one another when explaining their reasoning on health care, national defense, or the price of rice in China. Then they inevitably add, "I'm just trying to make sure we're all on the same page."

As troubling as that is, it pales in comparison to the damage done to Christianity, to Christ himself, as believers grab this book and that book, while sorely neglecting the Book and the author of it.

I think it behooves us to first ascertain that we're all reading from the same book, and that the book has something to say to all who attend it. Then and only then, can we determine whether or not we're on the same page.

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Acts 17:11 (NIV)

The first quote is from something called the "Elephants of Style." The second is from the novel "Twilight." Litia lives in the novel "Samantha of Samaria." The stock market quote is from one my favorite authors, Max Lucado in "Fearless," his most recent book, which I highly recommend. (To be clear. I've never made a stock market decision in my life, no million dollar decisions and only very occasionally a split-second decision, usually while driving.)