Technology

We are preparing for our first visitor to arrive today!  What a treat!

I'm continually amazed at how life at this point in time is so different than even 20 years ago, in terms of technology and ability to travel.  No more do "missionaries" (which we do not call ourselves) expect to have to say final goodbyes when moving abroad.  No more do (most) letters take a month to cross an ocean and arrive at someone's door.  No more do families hunker around the kitchen phone for the once-a-month/year phone call where the delay in conversation, as the sound travels between one country to the other, means you end up spending more money on silence than you did on talk.  Communication has become cheap with Skype/Gchat and cell phone plans with international options.  A visit like the one we're about to have was scheduled a couple weeks ago (granted, he is single so he can up and leave), not months or even years ago as yesteryear might have experienced.

I'm sure I'm dramatizing this much more than what 20 years ago actually looked like...but, truly, this instant worldwide communication is dramatic.  It sometimes seems unnatural or uncanny. 

Part of that discomfort is why I don't widely use Facebook.  The idea that I have to pretend to be "friends" with someone I haven't seen in years or talked to in years just seems preposterous.  I think of it more as Gossipbook and I'msoawesomebook and Lookatwhatmykiddrew/said/whateverbook.

Do I sound mean?  It's because I am.

Anyway, yeah, technology.  Perhaps my religious heritage is causing me to harken to the ways that these changes in communication are not necessarily for the betterment of society...not to say that I don't enjoy keeping in close touch with family and friends who are far away, but rather understanding how significant it is, in fact, to keeping a firm grasp on being present here and now.  We are keeping up with technology, perhaps, but I don't believe that we, as human beings, are keeping up with our basic needs for tangible community, discerning thought (who needs to think about what to say when you can post it instantly on twitter?), and meaningful engagement with nature.

With that, I have a few emails to catch up on...(i.e. I am not perfect.)