Talking to One Another
A Franciscan View by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

Many years ago, an acquaintance asked if she could have my e-mail address. I gave it to her. What followed was a barrage of "forwards" of every sort, sometimes three or four a day. After a couple of months of that, I asked her why she wanted my e-mail address. She said that she wanted to "share." Well, this sort of sharing just isn't my cup of tea. I don't have time or inclination to read through pages and pages of text that I have very little interest in. I finally told her to just take me off her mailing list. Then someone else forwarded her stuff to me... it never ends. And, very often, we get these messages three or four times from different sources, in different years.

Here's an example of what some people send:

"GOD is Good!
If I don't get this back, I will know you really didn't read it.
I got this from someone and thought the last part was really good thought.
Too bad that the person who sent it to me did not know 10 people who would admit to knowing the Lord . If I send this to you, please send it back so I will know that my friends do know the Lord .
I don't think I know 10 people who would admit they love Jesus .
Do You Love Him ?
This is a simple test:
IF YOU LOVE JESUS, SEND THIS TO AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE PERSON WHO SENT IT TO YOU!"

The sender of this "example," was a close friend of mine, and she KNOWS I love Jesus, so why this exercise in futility? And if I don't pass it on to at least 10 people, what is going to happen? I'll tell you, absolutely nothing! Yes, it would be great if you would evangelize your love for God, but this isn't the way to do it. Most people I know when they get these messages will click the Delete Key, immediately. And another thing, doing this at work, your boss may get very upset with you!

Messages to friends or even acquaintances should be "conversational" messages. Hey, how are you? What have you been doing lately? Tell your correspondents a little what's been going on in your life. If they are locals, maybe invite them to lunch or something like that. Talk about what happened at the monthly SFO meeting-have something to eat or drink. Et cetera. So, friends, let's bring conversation back into our messages instead of this worthless drivel. Unfortunately, when the "canned messages" stop, there is only dead silence.

Communicating between fraternities and individual members could be better by using “X” (formerly known as “Twitter”). The Region is already doing that. I am not fond of “X”. That is because on a cellphone the print is way too small. On a larger screen it’s easier to read, such as a laptop. I also use Messenger, a program in the Facebook family. That works well on a cellphone, although it can be downloaded for Windows. In fact much of my foreign correspondence is done with Messenger, for example, Philippines, and people I know in European countries. Many Secular Franciscans use Facebook, either individually or in groups. There is some good stuff out there.

Email is used too, especially for business, and for messages where a formal record is needed.

Please continue to send messages, let's communicate. Talking to one another is good stuff. It shows we care about one another. But keep the messages short and on point.

Fred Schaeffer, OFS
4/25/2006, rev. January 2024

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