Father Bill speaks

Bill Packard: A friend of God on Facebook

Bill Packard

Wed, 04/10/2013 - 11:00pm

You can’t go anywhere today without hearing about the power of social media. I always share with the businesses that I mentor that social media is important and they can’t ignore it. I didn’t realize just how important it was until last night.

OK, let’s get something straight right from the get-go here. I don’t want to get into some deep nasty religious discussion about this piece. The piece is about social media, particularly Facebook, OK? I was baptized and confirmed at St. Thomas Episcopal Church and back in the day Haig Nargesian was the priest and what he said was what we did. I don’t know for sure that I thought he represented God, but I never challenged what he said.

Is GOD like really posting things on Facebook or is there someone in Hackensack, N.J., pretending to be GOD?

I was also an acolyte for many years so I was close to Fr. Nargesian. I learned at a very early age that people can appear differently in different situations. Haig Nargesian had a presence when he was at the altar or the pulpit. He was a big man and he had a manner that commanded you to listen to him. Before and after the services, we would talk about sports or whatever and then he would transform into almost a different human being when he was in front of the congregation. I thought the world of Haig and still see some of the other acolytes from time to time. Many of us are still around here walking among you and you probably would have a hard time picturing us lighting candles and helping to prepare communion at St. Thomas. I can’t explain it, but I know it was powerful and I’m thankful that I was part of it.

So now you have my background. As things happen that you don’t expect, a post was shared on my Facebook page. The post was somewhat inspirational, which is fine, but I noticed that it came from GOD. So, I thought, really? Yes, GOD has a Facebook page. And GOD has 1.5 million followers. It was somewhat disturbing that I only had one friend who was also a friend of GOD. I thought the number would be higher. Since you know my story, you can understand the beliefs that were instilled in me at a very tender age. If you knew Haig Nargesian, it would be very clear to you how I should view something like this. I looked things over. I thought about it for a long, long time. Then I sent a private message to GOD! On Facebook!

What exactly is going on here? This is really strange to write this but now that I’m a friend of GOD on Facebook, I see his or her posts. They get like 50,000 likes. Is GOD like really posting things on Facebook or is there someone in Hackensack, N.J., pretending to be GOD? If that’s the case, they’re doing a decent job. The posts look like they could come from GOD. I can’t believe I just wrote that.

GOD didn’t answer my private message, but now he or she wants me to follow some other Facebook page if I believe in Jesus. I have no idea if private messages on Facebook are like prayers and just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t meant he doesn’t care. There is a lot of stuff going on in the world and I can’t imagine what his or her schedule is like, so I’m going to be patient. I do have to say that I asked him or her a trick question, and this gets weirder by the minute.

Even though Haig Nargesian was a regular guy to us acolytes, he also seemed like a man of GOD to me. He has passed away, but I have to wonder what Haig would have to say about all this. Do these 1.5 million people really think that GOD has a Facebook page? Maybe he does. I do have to say that he or she posts a lot. Probably has some angel do the posting. Who am I to say? Of course I had to do some further research. God started his Facebook page in September of 2012 and declares that he’s a male. That clears that part up. I would have thought that he would have been involved earlier, but who am I to question God? I couldn’t help but wonder if Jesus has a Facebook page and it turns out he does. A couple, actually. Jesus joined Facebook in 2011 so that adds a lot of credibility to this whole situation. The kids are way ahead of the parents when it comes to social media.

This is all very bizarre and none of it would ever have happened if I hadn’t “liked” a Facebook post. I worry now that GOD might “unfriend” me. What would that mean? I got up twice last night to check my messages and have checked them four times today. No reply from GOD so far. I’ll keep you posted.

Bill Packard lives in Union and is the founder of BPackard.com. He is a speaker, author, small business coach and consultant.

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