It’s the last day of the year, and we are recuperating from a bout of COVID. I am very grateful that we were able to see all family and attend Christmas Eve services before being taken down. A quiet evening to usher in 2025 is just fine, and a great opportunity to reflect on the miraculous in our lives.
We do not have cable TV. An evening’s online entertainment can be described as either intentional or random in the eclectic mix that results from following rabbit holes.
Last night’s selection included videos on how cinnamon is made, various literary design patterns and settings in Biblical Narrative from the Bible Project, a PBS Be Smart segment on Why Useless Knowledge Can Be Useful, and finally settling on streaming the 1961 movie Pocketful of Miracles.
Miracles of technology bring the world to our living room: screensaver photos of remote and hauntingly beautiful places in nature. And more wonders: video calling that makes it possible to see our loved ones’ faces, and the ability to keep in touch by e-mail or text. We are gifted with treasures of ancient archives online. On video libraries, I can watch old movies and get a sense of the embedded values and stereotypes of their times.
I recognize that curiosity, like the passion of pure science, goes where it wants. It may not seem immediately useful, can’t prove to be of monetary value in the short term, or maybe never. It may lie there like kindling awaiting a spark to light a fire or catalyzing agent that will transform two substances or thoughts into something new.
When ancient peoples told stories, they were treasures to the generations that followed, though their worlds would have been unrecognizable to each other. Cross-genre and cross-disciplines bring out something new over time. It makes me wonder if there is something like the periodic table for ideas, the elements of our imagination that only come to light in the miracles of alchemy.
And AI is a bold new frontier, not without its dangers. I can’t warm to the monotone, emotionless computer voices. Experimenting with the technology results in text that no longer sounds like me. My writing isn’t perfect but it does reflect and reveal my unique identity
It’s as if humanity is randomly being compressed into one massive human. In that hodge-podge, we can’t tell where one individual ends and another begins. The impact of this is still not clear.
But, in a few hours, we begin a new year with unforeseen joys and sorrows, perils and pleasure, growth and connection. We have the opportunity to venture out, and to preserve discoveries for future generations. It can mean being pushed to the limit of our courage and energy, to trust the God who finds joy in our co-creating with the building blocks in his vast and awesome creation.
Wishing a very happy 2025 to everyone!
PS – Thank you to the friend who sent this song my way!
