I have been reduced to a voice coming from a computer. My view of my family is pixelated and passive. In a weird, creepy, scifi way, this is better than nothing. I have my own old haggadah, I help them with the pieces they might miss in their new versions which lack our family additions. I assist in the bargaining process over the affikomen. But no one knows how to interact with a disembodied voice, nor how to be one. I'd rather be Elijah than God but instead I'm lost in a land of technobabble. How do you know this is me? How do you know where I am? Without frame of reference, how do I know who and where I am?Religion and the internet are strange bedfellows, both dealing with nebulous territory. It's a powerful partnership. There was a feature on TV today about religion online; almost every church I know podcasts at least some of their sermons. I don't quite understand or connect with online ministries like the Church of the Younger Fellowship. But I see, especially when you add a video component, how something is better than nothing. Still, presence is invaluable.
I have seen the future. And I hope we can maintain tradition while keeping presence. The view is not enough.
