Sunday, June 14, 2020
Sunday Reflection: We're not robots
A few weeks ago, I was pondering something troubling. The pandemic had pushed people back into their homes and onto their computers as nearly everything-- school, work, commerce, church-- turned into an online exercise of some kind.
I've always had this vague fear that we are slowly merging into computers; that eventually our physical selves will become obsolete as our identities become more prominently tied to the internet. It was a sad thought, since I believe in a lived life in which the senses are engaged.
But then George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis police, and that tragic event led people to the streets. Suddenly, there was this thing, an awful thing, that pulled everyone out of what had become their normal. Of course, the news of the events were circulated online, and the video of the death is what drove the righteous anger that followed, but still there was something to it all that was beyond that, which seemed rooted in sight and taste and smell and sound and touch. It got real.
Now we will see what happens with it. Will it drive us to be more engaged with one another, to create better social spaces and relations? Will we, finally, really take on the sources of racism?
