The Spiritual Power of Social Networking Tools

Warning...I am writing this post while heavily medicated and therefore cannot be held responsible for what I am about to write.  A little over a week ago I started seeing little black spots in my left eye.  Like any good man would do when something like this happens I ignored it hoping it would go away.  But when the little black spots turned into a blind spot in the bottom of my left eye I started to get a little concerned. So on this Wednesday I went to see my eye doctor.  When he finished the examination he told me I had a detached retina and had I not come in when I did I would have lost the eye site in my left eye.  He called the surgeon right away and scheduled surgery for the next morning.  The surgery went great and despite looking like I took a mean right hook from Joe Frazier, he told me my sight should be fine.The whole ordeal once again showed me the power of the Social Networking tools we have available to us as believers.  Thursday morning, just before leaving for the hospital, I Twittered that I was having emergency surgery.  Literally within seconds I started getting replies from around the world people telling me they were praying for me.  It was a stunning reminder of how quickly the church can be mobilized through social networking.  A few hours later as Cindy and I sat nervously in pre-op awaiting the surgery my blackberry kept making that little ringing noise that notifies you when you have a direct message from Twitter.  I would open it up and read an individual’s Tweet asking what was going on, giving a word of encouragement or telling me they were praying for me.  It was sort of like virtual hospital visitation…the next best thing to being there.  With every Tweet I gained spiritual strength and encouragement. It's amazing to me that there are people out there I have never met in person, but have interacted with on a regular basis through Twitter, Facebook or Ning and I consider them to be a friend.  And in this time of need they expressed their love and concern for me.  So I want to thank all my "Real in person friends" and all my "Virtual real friends" for your prayers and your support. How can you show the love and compassion of Christ through social networking today?