Sunday, October 31, 2010

20101031: Disconnect to Connect : The E-world we live in


Because of the crowding of many distractions now around us, people often find "retreats" going up the mountains or the countryside helpful to "refind" oneself with the Creator. Because busyness had squeezed Him out of our lives. Actually the word "retreat" is both noun and verb. One is taken as a 'camp get away' and the other is "going backwards". Isn't that true that most pp need this kind of break in life once in a while? Hence I think that slogan in that advert "Disconnect to Connect" is so apt and relevant today. The observation of how so many pp were doing the "yellow pages thing - let your fingers do the walking" in the MRT. I had been rather interested in this myself and had been observing all the public places- yes it is 'yellow pages' all around. Funny, it is quite ironical right - years ago , we relied on this paper booklet for info. But today, just like someone wrote a eulogy for Sony Walkman (the in thing in the 80s) yesterday's papers, we can also include the eulogy for Yellow Pages. (Ha Ha - they did not envisage that their little logo is so relevant today and it kind of did not foresee the logo was its eventual demise?) We used to flip sides of that heavy books (encyclos included besides directories) to search. But today, we swipe both left to right and up and down/ tap tap the I-phone or any android phone or the Ipad. And information is almost instantaneous!

I am beginning to comprehend what Daniel (one of the prophets around 530 BC) wrote . In his last chapter 12, he was asked to "close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge". Interesting indeed. do you know that way back in the Sumerian civilisations (at least 3500 bc), earliest evidence of writing was found? Later, it went into the papyrus and scrolls to the ink and paper today. Yes, scolls used. Johan Gutenberg - invented the Heidelberg printing press in AD1450. It was then in 1455 that this man printed his first bible. Since then, the bible remains as the best selling books in the world. No other literature or books ever beat it. Today, this bible too had been E-based. It is not Gutenberg but GOOGLE has taken over! So Daniel was right in his prophesy. Knowledge is running to and fro through the www! Facebook - another paradox. The name should be Faceless Book. It is the virtual world that pp are being sucked in today. The person who wrote in the profile section may not be the actual person who claimed to be! Mummies played the Farm game in Facebook so passionately that they rather strangle their real baby. Was it virtual pets more important than the babies???

King Solomon - the wisest king on earth wrote in Ecclesiates " a time and season for everything on earth" We are the generation indeed that is alive to see this happen in the world of fast technological advancement. I think that it is the babyboomers generation like us who really can sense this big change in our life. At least we went thru the bucket system days. But it is not spiralling downhill. Change is the only constant in life. We just have to embrace it. And people can change. In fact many do change in choices of food especially when one grows older. Chances given repeatedly may cause changes to come about. We need lots of second chances in life. Without it, we are doomed or damned easily. It reminds me of God's character. His grace & mercy: Grace - God giving to us what we do not deserve. Mercy - God not giving us to us what we deserve. (make sense??).

This is the E-world we are in. Electronic or Entangled present world?? But definitely not the Eternal or Everlasting future world yet to be. At least not now. Akang Datang...COMING SOON!
Let's DISCONNECT TO CONNECT to the Giver of life, Yahweh and to the loved ones and friends and relatives around us.

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