Life Diamonds

What is human life worth? It all depends on where you are or where you were born. In Western countries a cat or a dog is often given more royal treatment than humans. It often costs more to feed the dog than a baby! There are many in this world who do not not know what they are really worth. Check out my recommended book on this post if your self-worth is way down and see how precious you are.

In many third world countries people and children die daily owing to starvation and disease and it is accepted as just one of those ephemeral events of the day and life carries on nonchalantly. In some of these countries body parts are willingly sold to pay for food and shelter and to move ahead in life.

From a sinful and mortal point of view, the Bible says that man is but dust and turns into dust at death. But from the perspective of the Heavenly Father, God sees each person as the apple of His eye – precious enough to die for (which Jesus did on the Cross), worth more than the sparrows and gems, and of eternal value.

From a technology perspective one company has picked up this precious worth of human life and has captured this literally. Have you heard someone compliment you by saying, “You are a gem?” This company can now physically turn a handful of your ashes at your death and create a perfect diamond! Your loved ones can wear you as a diamond pendant, a ring or as any jewellery. The company says: The LifeGem is a certified, high-quality diamond created from the carbon of your loved one as a memorial to their unique life.

Have I shocked you or do you think this is impossible? Visit http://www.lifegem.com/ and find out how it is done, the cost and the colours you can choose. You can turn your loved one into a real physical diamond within a few weeks for a price.

What do you think of the LifeGem technology? Would you invest in such a diamond? People treasure the ashes of their loved one by putting this in a vase or urn in the lounge. So why not turn a handful of that ash into a precious diamond? Would you contemplate wearing your monther-in-law as a diamond on your neck?

YouTube or GodTube?

Talk about the tubes. We have plastic hoses, panty hoses, cables and wires – all some form of tubes. Then John Logie Baird, a Scotman came up with a different kind of tube in 1926. It now pervades most of the houses in the modern world – the picture tube called the Television. I do remember queuing up to watch the introduction of the black and white TV in the 1960s in Malaysia.

In the new millennium the Internet changed everything that has been physical. We started hearing music on the Internet but then came the ability to telecast yourself on the net and YouTube was born. It is now so simple to record any video clip on a good digital camera or even on your webcam and with a click of a few buttons you can expose yourself to the whole world. I think YouTube is a great idea. It provides free access to publicise almost anything and the environment is self-regulated. This means any person can netcast anything and there is no stopping or it is too late – the horse has already bolted. Many have become famous or notorious by being on the YouTube willingly, anonymously or maliciously.

For everything that is invented first there has to be copy cats or alternatives. For Christians we now have GodTube. Their logo caption says, “Broadcast Him”. Again the concept, though not original is a good Christian alternative. On the positive, it is an avenue for netcasting Christian content and it is mostly free, and is intended for “ministry and personal use”. It is a Christian social networking site and to that extent, it is a commendable service available to everyone – Christian or not.

Unfortunately, because we as Christians are still human beings with our warts and all and our differences, I do see some element of preacher self-promotion and “theology or preacher bashing” on GodTube. If GodTube is intended to “Broadcast Him” who are we really promoting on GodTube? How does the Christian GodTube portray itself to non-christians?

Have you indulged in YouTube and/or GodTube? What is your opinion? Which tube do you spend most of your time on? Will you quit going to church and just watch the GodTube video services instead?

Your Web Avatar

What is an avatar? How does it differ from the web avatar? The term “avatar” comes from Hindu philosophy and simply means “incarnation” of a divine being, or the bodily manifestation of God. Hinduism also has various categories of these avatars. The word has become in vogue with the New Age thinkers, including self-motivation “business” seminars that now use the term for transformation of self.

With the proliferation of users on the internet, it is no longer easy to maintain one’s unique web identity. With so many Smiths on the net, choosing Joe Blogg as a name is no longer sustainable. So the word “avatar” has now become a web terminology where Joe Blogg can portray himself through a chosen image that he draws himself or gets someone to draw an image that he feels represents his true self. For example a picture of a Bulldog in 3D could become one’s avatar because that image depicts fearlessness, a person not to be tampered with or simply a cuddly flabby pet! To put it plainly, a web avatar is the “web presence” of one’s persona, one’s branding, a representation of one’s significant other or the real you!

On the positive, a web avatar is a portable web identity that is easily recognisable by others. But what baffles me is one’s need to really hide behind this “avatar-mask” - the Phantom you. Why not put up your own photo or your silhouette? Oh, one cites privacy and anonymity as reasons for the one’s avatar. MUDS, forums, the popular “Second Life” and other social networking websites enable you to create your own avatar. The images are not necessarily caricatures but accentuated symbolic entities of yourself.

I find it odd that many people both in real life and on the web do not want to really expose their true self. Come so far but no further seem to be the implication. Yet there seems to be the unnatural craving to “expose” oneself through these avatars and strange usernames. Are they trying to hide something yet seeking fame or notoriety? Read more about avatars in my recommended book for this post.

In the Book of Genesis we are told that God created you in His own image – you are a replica of God in essence and he intended you to be like him. But Satan enticed Adam and Eve by offering an alternate avatar – “you will be like gods”. Then man fell for it with a thud and lost the Paradise. Both Adam and Eve were then fully and literally exposed!

With webcams, live chat and YouTube, I ask you this – Do you still need an avatar to hide behind on the web? Will the real you please show up! What is your web avatar if you already have one? If you still prefer an avatar, what image would you choose for portraying your anonymous self on the web? Will web avatars seek re-incarnation and teleporting and soon spawn a new web religion called “webism”?

Digital Clicks

When I was a boy I was fascinated by the magnifying glass and the power of the glass lens in displaying images. I then built my pin hole camera and graduated to a plastic $2.00 camera which took good quality black and white photos. At school I joined the camera club and learned to process B&W film in the darkness of my bedroom. It was a miracle to see the image slowly appear on the film and then on the photo paper, albeit in a dark room with wet hands and the strong smell of chemicals. In the late 70s I bought myself a Pentax SLR camera. It had a bayonet mount interchangeable lens and lots of new features such as the ability to actually see through the lens what was to appear on the film! I still have that camera and swore allegiance to using it for the rest of my life. Soon my loyalty was challenged when automatic cameras with fantastic speeds, functions and features came on to the market. I scoffed at the owners of such cameras as I believed that I was a better photographer because I had to use my professional judgement in manually setting the F-stops etc.

Then in the late 1990’s the manual clicks of my Pentax were to be forever changed by the sound of the digital click. The market began to be flooded with digital cameras with very expensive price tags – running into the thousands. But this time it was better than the Polaroid camera. One could see the image in real time and capture the moment and review it within the second! No film, no visit to the film processing shop, or having to wait the minimum 24 hours to get the prints.

In the year 2000, I traded a number of my manual cameras and lenses for a second hand Fuji FinePix 4900 Zoom Digital Camera. It has all the features of my Pentax SLR manual camera but I can capture and see the image instantly. It zooms out without the need to change the lens and I can take a close up shot of an ant within a few centimetres.

This digital camera has travelled with me to the mission fields in Myanmar, the slums of Bombay, the foothills of the Everest in Nepal and captured the birth of my first grand child. With majestic instance, I can connect my camera to my PC and email my photos to anyone around the globe. I can also leave my album (e.g. Picasa) on the internet for free and allow the world to see them. Today you can purchase a digital camera for less than $50. Read my recommended book to learn about digital cameras.

The bible talks about the “twinkling of an eye” and the transformation of the dead to life (I Corinthians 15:51-52). It says that this is a mystery. Likewise I see the power in the Digital Click. It is indeed a mystery and I have been transformed – I am a digital camera clicker. I sometimes wonder about the images I capture in my brain with each twinkle of my eyes. Will science one day be able to expose the millions of images somehow? Or is this storage going to be exposed by God at judgement day for all to see – a frightening thought. Have you moved on from your Kodak Instamatic or that chunky Polaroid camera? What is your click? – Manual or Digital?

E-Cash & E-Banks

In many Asian countries it is not unusual to be given a piece of paper with a number when you visit a bank. The number indicates your queue number. You wait for your number to be called and then conduct your banking transaction with the teller. You then sign in triplicate, show your government-approved identity card with your photo, signature and both your thumb prints. You then have to wait (….and wait) often at the mercy of the bank clerks and officials before you can get anything out of them. Hey, after all it is your money and they think they are doing you a favour.

I rarely go to the bank these days, I mean, to transact business across the counter. My bank counter is my PC. I login and check my bank balance, transfer funds, pay my bills, buy shares, buy forex, pay my taxes and juggle my money all online. I can’t tell you the colour of money because I am dealing in electronic or digital cash. My bank is no longer bricks and mortar but an e-bank – open all hours.

Some Christians find my behaviour somewhat unusual. I know of one Christian who worked very hard abroad to earn some money to buy a house. He and his wife didn’t trust even the brick bank. They put their packets of US Dollars under their bed. Sadly a burglar broke in and took the lot! I won’t tell you how much. There are others with theological backing for not using electronic banking. They forecast the coming of the antichrist who apparently will hold the reigns of the banking world and will cause the cash crisis. Of course you have heard of the mark of the beast, barcodes and 666 in my earlier posts as reasons for non-participation in and non-adoption of e-banking.

In reality, paper and coin money is disappearing. Many merchants and shopping malls don’t carry cold cash. They prefer all transactions to be made via Credit Card or EFTPOS. Even travellers cheques are on the way out. At the end of the day money is just a number representing a value and today that number and value is represented by 0 and 1 on a bank computer.

For me e-cash and e-banks offer me the security, instant access, instant transaction at any time or any place. Jesus once ran out of cash (Matt:17) so he used an EFTPOS machine to draw out some money. The fact was - that EFTPOS machine had a different design. The cold cash came out of the mouth of a fish!

Are you a cold cash person or a digital cash and e-banking person? What’s your theological view on electronic banking?