To Skype or not to Skype!

I've had the zaniest month of "blog interrupted"! Work projects, outside activities, church stuff-you name it. I've missed  dearly the opportunity to offer postings and promise to be a better blogger, one day at a time.
Of the many events over the last month of which I could blog, I decided just to focus on one. "Skype". That's right I said "Skype". I had heard about Skype from some friends and finally decided to break down, purchase a better webcam than the one on my Dell, and well, begin Skyping. This has been a wonderful decision, bringing me great joy. I can't tell you how much I enjoy speaking and seeing my wife  who is six thousand miles away. Best of all, Skype is a free telephone and webcam service that allows you to speak and see persons all over the planet. I don't know how they do, but it is an amazing service, perhaps being a glimpse into what telephone service in the future might become.

My entry into the world of blogging, Facebook, and now Skype, are a indication of just how much technology is becoming part of one's everyday experience. And I am not geekie by any means. What amazes me is just commonplace all of this social networking has become. It's simply the way people do things these days. For example, I recently learned about a "Twestival", translation "a Twitter festival" will be taking place in several weeks. And I only know this because I made a decision to throw myself into the world of social networking.

Most of all, this is a great lesson in adaptability, of being open to change, and of new possibilities for growth. And it's here where something from the Celtic tradition can be of help. Deep at the very core of Celtic spirituality lies a sense of mystery, and creativity. The Celts were not fundamentalists (like the ones we see on TV today). Their Orthodox roots of the Desert Fathers and Mothers reminded them that it is folly to think that one is ever in "possession" of the Truth. As my spiritual director would remind me "you don't have spirituality, spirituality has you". It feels good to grow, to learn something new, to be in a place now, that one was not in the past. If one falsely imagines that "have it", what incentive is there to grow?

It could be Skype, it could be a book, or a new friendship. These are the gateways to personal growth and development. They are symbols in a sense, that it is important to progress in life, take on new ideas and projects, and learn to see things in a different way. Such a perspective also must apply to Scripture. Who could ever be arrogant enough to say that they know the full meaning of a given text? Years ago,  I recall reading John Henry Newman's great autobiography, Apologia Pro Vita Sua. In the opening chapters, Newman quotes one of the classical authors of old, which I will paraphrase. Change is an evidence of life, and that hopefully in one's life, one can make many changes.