There is a certain nostalgia for the "Good Old Days" when folk sat around the hearth of an evening discussing the events of the last week, the health of the cattle and who is related to whom. Fond memories were shared and a tinge of sadness might creep in for those who had gone abroad and from whom there was little news.
I'd not go back.
Here I am today (behind the camera) looking at a photograph of my Great Niece who has lost her first tooth. Thanks to the internet (and Facebook in particular) all her doting relatives (including her GrAuntE) can gaze in fresh wonder at this rite of passage; this significant step in her journey through life. Bless her (and her wee sister).
We are able to follow the journey of a loved one across the globe, chat to family and friends in all corners of the world and receive news from broadcasters in every country. The mobile phone, lying close by, enables me to keep in touch with numerous friends by voice or text.
What my grandmother would have given for regular news of her eldest son in Australia and her second son in New York...! And how my Mother would have enjoyed daily blogs and internet photographs during her years in Foster Green's. She at least was brought a photograph of her baby daughter every few months.
Our parents often recalled a time during the war when on a day's leave our Father arranged to meet Mother at a railway station in London. For hours they both waited at the entrance. And, when the time was almost gone realized that the station might just have two entrances! A mobile phone would have solved that confusion in a matter of minutes.
"The Good Old Days" may have much to commend them - and in their time they were undoubtedly good ... at least in part ... but I'm thinking that these aren't bad days! And maybe the next generation will look back with nostalgia to the early years of the twenty first century as another period of good days.
Heavenly Father,
watch over those we love.
Remove all anxious fears from them.
Teach us to know that you are always near,
and that we are one in you for ever;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer.
5 comments:
a extra wonderful post today Elizabeth - my hubbie and I are now in contact with quite a few of his relatives from South Africa via facebook - and yes I am on fb under Judith Schultz
Lovely prayer!! Thank you for sharing that!
If I were stranded on a desert island and could have only one book (other than the Bible and Shakespeare) I think that my choice would be The Book of Common Prayer!
To Judith... found you but can't find the button to add you as a friend!
What an inspiring prayer, Elizabeth! And as for your niece, she looks so cute with her new smile! Yesterday, I took my daughter to some of her dentists in Myrtle Beach, SC and have her first tooth extraction. She was thrilled and afraid at first, but during the procedure all her fears fade and she just looks so amazing as well even without that tooth!
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