I Love Technology
As Brier Patch turns on its redesigned, fancied up, slicker, smarter, more accessible
web site, I am preparing to leave Hawaii after a Youthfest Weekend with high school
students.
I can never come to Hawaii without remembering the awesome experience of hearing
whalesong with the unaided ear. Beverly and I were in Maui a few years ago. We
had gone out on a whale-watching boat equipped with a hydrophone and delighted
at the prospect of hearing whales. We heard nothing. There was only the sound
of moving water. The next day as we were swimming I took a big breath, a deep
dive--and in the silence there it was, faint and far away, but unmistakable--a
whale was singing. I came out of the water filled with a sense of wonder at hearing
this ancient communication whose meaning I could not even guess.
I love technology. I am crazy for synthesizers, drum machines, sequencers, web
sites with flash animation and hydrophones, but if the song isn't there, all the
technology in the world is worthless. Like the whale song, we humans have some
ancient songs to sing: songs about faith, freedom, frailty, family, friendship,
fidelity, fasting and feasting.
My call is to be a cantor in that endeavor. Here is hoping new technology will
always facilitate and never distract from the singing of these great "old" songs.
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