..that once was hidden
August 30, 2011 (Tuesday)
When the worshipers arrived at church last Sunday evening, we discussed Hurricane Irene and how it had impacted certain areas where we had relatives and friends. It occurred to me as we talked that all of us shared the experiences of the last few days by actually watching the effects of the storm as it made its way up the Atlantic coast. Such a conversation would have been impossible when we were younger.
How life has changed because of instant communications. When the markets open in the United States on a given morning, action has already taken place in the markets of Asia and Europe, giving us an inside track on what to expect when our trades begin, because all the information was broadcast abroad as it developed.
When we get up in the morning, we can flip on the T.V. and be transported live and in color to many places on earth to see and hear whatever is happening. If it’s a combat zone, we can hear the shots being fired and if it’s a revolution we can watch the demonstrators in the streets.
So here we are in 2011, with a window to the world in our living rooms, actually living in a day we only dreamed about when we were kids. When I was 9 or 10 years old, I remember going to the corner grocery and watching a Lucky Strike cigarette commercial on a small screen. Of course it was not television, but it was something I’d never seen before–like going to the movies, only different. It foreshadowed the thousands of commercials on small screens that would make their appearances later in my life.
I’ve run out of space, so there’s no room for the litany of ooh’s and ah’s for the myriad of technological achievements that have changed our life styles. What a day to be alive!
Yet in the midst of all this, there is still a strong hunger for something that goes deeper into the human spirit: “Tell me the old, old story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.” (Read all the lyrics here).