Living Online--Bane or Blessing?

This past Sunday we had our first livestreamed online worship service.  It was rather strange preaching to empty pews (though I have done it a couple of times before to make a video of a sermon).  There were eight of us in the room.  Appropriately distanced from one another.  Our two technicians, one driver, three musicians and my associate.  We managed to include some lovely songs, scriptures, prayers, a sermon and even a children's moment featuring my two puppets, Chompers the Crocodile and Wendell the Walrus.  (Chompers in particular is a real "fan" favorite!)  I think it went well, and we have received quite a bit of very positive feedback.  To date, some 296 folks have viewed the service, either live or as posted on our YouTube channel.  (You can check it our for yourself at Sanibel Livestream)

During the week I had one parishioner mention that her son in Germany had joined us on Sunday morning, and then later another parishioner said family members in Japan had been a part of the experience as well.  As one parishioner who I mentioned it to said, "Truly cool!"  And so it is.  It is also a very tangible reminder of just how interconnected our world is today.  Indeed, the spread of the virus itself is a reminder of that reality.  And closer to home, my wife, who is tending to her very ill sister-in-law in upstate New York, was able to see the service.

I've also been posting "A Poem and a Prayer" on Facebook LIVE each morning at 9:30am.  That too has proven a boon--to me personally, and to others.  I was very, very touched when my one of my daughters-in-law told me that her youngest, one of my granddaughters, said to her one day, "Has Pop Pop been on Facebook yet?  I want to see him!"

Here at the church we have been doing most of our meetings via conference calls or ZOOM.

Do I miss the personal, physical presence of others?  Absolutely!  But I am also grateful for the technology that makes all this connection possible.  Do we need to temper our use of it in normal times?  Once again, absolutely!  But we must remember, it is not the technology itself that causes us problems, rather it is how we use it.  Like so many things in life, it can be a bane or a blessing.  The difference rests in what we do with it.