We played a text messaging game to begin (cell phone owners were partnered with those who did not have any clue how to txt!) and the last text they sent to me was “Im afraid of the Version guy”. Which is not exactly true, but the guy troubles me. I can not understand why these commercials are so popular??? I mean who wants some guy stalking around our neighborhoods. I saw a comedians act where he showed a video of himself buying a phone. So the guy starts showing up and saying “can you hear me now?”. First in the backyard, then the kitchen, then the closet, finally the comedian is sitting in the bathroom when the door bursts open,”can you here me now?” That image is how Verizon makes me feel and why I will never buy one of their products! And now the commercials have the whole population of India following people around…
My dad will tell stories of growing up in the sixties. He knew his neighbors. Not only the kids, but their parents. And those parents treated him like their own (when he was good and bad!). Yet by the time I was growing up I barely knew any of my neighbors (I did not even know many of their names). What happened? Air conditioning pulled everyone inside. Garage door openers allowed people to not even step outside. Television went from sketchy black and white, to a plethora of clear cable channels… the Internet followed and now cell phones bring not only calls, but txt and email…
Technology is not bad, but it is also not good. The interconnectedness of our lives can be great. I recently connected with a mentor from when I was in high school. We had not spoken in years, both moving across the country, but today we are the deepest of facebook friends! Yet that same interconnectedness often prevents us from being present. Whereever we are people can contact us. Conversations, dinners, relationships are interupted with a ring or a vibration. Instead of being present in this moment, we find ourselves pulled to two, three, four different places…
The great thing about Jesus is that he was present. He was involved. The crowd was much like we are today, just watching to see what would happen to the woman. Today we would pull our phones and snap pictures or video. But Jesus got involved. His mind was not anywhere else. He heard and he acted…
“can you here me now?”
A couple of positives from the night. First the group sent letters to Kadeeja, who is the girl we have helped in Iraq (through my friend Jeremy, to provide a needed heart surgery). She is a Muslim, which concerned some of the students. But following Christ, we love – stop the stones – as we call out the gospel. Our love is not dependent on the answer!
Second, we filled up our chairs tonight. We actually had to find seats for a few students! Of course numbers are not an end-all, but there is an excitement. Please continue to pray for us!
PLUNGE47 