Remember the long-distance call?

 

Days of Miracles and Wonder

“…And I believe

These are the days of lasers in the jungle

Lasers in the jungle somewhere

Staccato signals of constant communication

A loose affiliation of millionaires

And billionaires and baby

These are the days of miracles and wonder

This is the long distance call

The way the camera follows us in slo-mo

The way we look to us all…”

Paul Simon (“Boy in the Bubble,” from “Graceland,” 1987)

 

          Paul Simon recorded his “Graceland” album in 1987. I remember it so well because he was backed up by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Their rhythm and voices rock the soul right back to its origins. I must have listened to that album on vinyl a thousand times. Now, I’m hearing it in my head and wondering just how prophetic it may have been. In 1987, cell phones looked like bricks and weighed 2.5 lbs. There was no such thing as social media beyond the gossip pages in the newspaper. And no one knew there was a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires?

          A lot has happened in 34 years. Now we hardly have newspapers, and people live their lives on social media. Cell phones fit into your pocket and are minicomputers with exceptionally advanced cameras. They document everything that happens in our daily lives, like it or not. Does it make you wonder what the next 34 years will bring?

Just as humans have changed their lives (and their brains) to adapt to technology in the last 34, going forward, we will no doubt continue that trend. I heard just this week that a new “robotic knee” is being tested in humans; it will eliminate the need for knee replacements. I’m holding out for that!

Here’s the thing that will not change in humanity—our need for each other. From the time that we were upright, hunter-gatherers, to the space age, to the age of robotics, we have always needed human touch and human interaction. We still need to belong and to know that we matter to somebody. We still need to develop our personality, our character, and our interests and we still need to probe the mysteries of the universe, and not just the internet. We still need to know joy and sorrow, to love and be loved, and to whet our minds with knowledge and inspiration.

The world moves fast-fast. We must force ourselves to slow down, to sit by a creek and observe how water swooshes around rocks and forms eddies, to walk in the deep green forests and sleep in fields of fireflies and sweetgrass. We will always need to nurture our souls with the grace of kinship to all of God’s creation. That’s what makes us human. And technology will never be that. Not even close.

                                        In the Spirit,

                                        Jane