Last night at church, our associate pastor announced that he’s leaving for Boston to start another church. This announcement is bittersweet. It’s great that he’s got this awesome opportunity but it sucks that he’s leaving.
This got me thinking. In today’s day and age, long distance friendships don’t have to suck as much any more. We have the tools to build what my friend Shel Israel would call a “global neighborhood.” Despite someone being in a different part of the country, it really can be like someone is next door and you’re having a conversation with them over the back fence.
I travel all across the country and make friends everywhere I go.
Twitter has been AMAZING. It gives me that “ambient intimacy” with my whole community. With a glance at Tweet Deck, I can know everything that’s going on in my community, what they’re thinking, and how they’re feeling.
In my Google Reader, I have a whole section for photos. I subscribe to the Flickr Photostreams from my friends from all over the country. With the click of my keyboard, I can see all the photos from my friends adventures.
I have a good chunk of friends who blog too. Those are such a blast to read too. When you read a friend’s blog, you feel like you’re having the same conversations you would if you were all sitting around the kitchen table together.
Granted these tools don’t replace face to face communications but they allow for you to build these global neighborhoods… these global communities.
Oatmeal Stout - Justin Thorp's blog 
hmm that’s right. You can keep in touch with your friends, but it’s not the same feeling as enjoying a talk or a breakfast with them. However that’s sure nowadays we can easily connect with people all over the world .. seems we are thousands kms far away .. and I’m writing on your blog haha. Sorry if my english isn’t perfect.