Wayne
Manning The world has never seen such an explosion of
connectivity as it has during the last dozen or so years. We are truly a
global community, a keystroke away from almost any place and any person in
the world. As I write this, at least one survey estimates there are just
over 605 million Internet users today, and the number is growing
exponentially. I am online at this very moment. If I need a fact or
a figure for this column, I can find it in seconds. I simply jump to
another window on my screen and ask a question of one of the many
available search engines, each containing billions of bits of information.
If I need an expert opinion on something, I can leave a note on one or
more of the thousands of “news groups” that are dedicated to specific
subjects. I’ll receive a multitude of opinions, from real live people,
wherever they might be in the world, in a matter of hours. If I just want
to talk, I can visit any number of “chat rooms,” on thousands of
topics, and type, in real time, to others who are interested in what I’m
talking about. For the real talkers, just add a microphone and visit the
voice-equipped chat rooms! Let’s say I need a quote from the Gospel of Thomas
and I don’t have a copy handy. I bring up a search engine (in this case
I will “Google” it), and type in “Gospel of Thomas” (which I just
did). I am led to several pages of options, including web sites with the
full text. I find the passage I am looking for, in this case, saying #5. I
copy and paste it, and it’s done! Like this: Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight,
and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is
nothing hidden which will not become manifest." The particular web
site I used is somewhere in Germany. I could have used any of dozens
around the world. The path could have been through routers in several
countries. The good news is, we don’t have to know any of that to access
the wealth of data that is available; that’s all taken care of by the
network itself. It took me less time to find the quote than it is taking
me to write about it! This saying from
the Gospel of Thomas is an appropriate one. We are being called to
recognize the enormity of what is happening around us in the
ever-accelerating information age. That “… there is nothing hidden
which will not become manifest” is the promise of all this
connectedness. It seems to me that
this growing network of human interaction via computers, telephone lines,
and satellites is an analog of collective consciousness itself. The
manifest world has always been an out-picturing or reflection of the
collective consciousness of all human beings. Think of our tools. Tools
are fundamentally extensions of the human body. What is a hammer, except
as an extension of the human arm and fist? The pliers, except as an
extension of the opposing thumb and forefinger? The computer, except as an
extension of the human brain? And, of course, the concept of “tool”
resides first of all in the mind. And now, the
reflection, or out-picturing, all around us is one of a rapidly growing
connectedness, unparalleled in human history. What does this mean, except
as the manifestation of an ever increasing connectedness of the within
of things, as Father Pierre Teilhard de
Chardin would say? In his masterwork,
The Phenomenon of Man, he anticipated what we are experiencing today, as
he defined for us his illuminated concepts of both external and internal
evolution. Everything in the without has a within, he believed. As the
without grows in complexity, so does the within seek to come together, to
connect. So then, is the
Internet a reflection of a greater and greater connectedness of the human
spirit and human consciousness? In spite of some appearances, I believe
that it is. I believe that we, as a human family, are closer than ever
before, even with the growing pains and family quarrels that are part of
it. Our opportunities and tools for problem solving and earth healing and
peace making have never been greater. The Internet has us talking with
each other, regardless of ethnicity and ideology. Perhaps it is the
communicating, the talking, that is far more important than the enormous
amount of information available. We who follow a
spiritual path, however defined, have long suspected that we are somehow
spiritually connected. Our wonderful suspicion is being proven true as the
manifest world races to catch up to the powerful connectedness we already
share, mind-to-mind, heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul. We don’t need to know
that http stands for Hyper Text
Transfer Protocol in order to avail ourselves of this modern wonder. And
we don’t need to know exactly how this inner connectedness works in
order to hold each other in high regard and claim the destiny that is
humankind’s. The vision of the prophet Isaiah is waiting to be
demonstrated: “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their
spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:4) It’s just a
connection away.
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