One blade.

More. Faster. Now. Better.

Think about it: We have all been and continue to be impacted in this age of Dehumanization through Technology. More. Faster. Now. Better.

Think about it: We are all over-communicated with. Statistically, each and every day we each are exposed to over 20,000 bits of advertising messages; mail, TV, radio, web banners, cell phone, direct mail, billboards…. More. Faster. Now. Better.

Think about it: Nobody reads anymore! We are living in the TiVo society. The RSS Feed Me That culture. The USA Today SkimArama run. The Junk Mail Filterers Anonymous syndrome. The Twitterific Only So Many Letters Permitted intervention. More. Faster. Now. Better.

Yet…there is evidence of a Re-humanization Movement happening all around us: Small home churches. Coffee shop gatherings, just to talk. Increase in people working with personal coaches and counselors. Dinner at home. Less. Slower. Naturally. Better. 

Cannot help but remember Harry Chapin’s classic song, Cat’s in the Cradle, a somberly accurate representation of how well we are evolving in our interpersonal moments of (  ):

Cat’s in the Cradle

“My child arrived just the other day


He came to the world in the usual way


But there were planes to catch and bills to pay


He learned to walk while I was away


And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew


He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad


You know I'm gonna be like you"



 

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon


Little boy blue and the man on the moon


When you comin' home dad?


I don't know when, but we'll get together then son


You know we'll have a good time then….”



The song goes on to convey how the son grows up, and when the Dad wants to spend time with him and his family the son now is too busy with all the “things” that have filled up his life:

“…I've long since retired, my son's moved away


I called him up just the other day


I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"


He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time


You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu


But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad


It's been sure nice talking to you"



And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me


He'd grown up just like me


My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon


Little boy blue and the man on the moon


When you comin' home dad?


I don't know when, but we'll get together then son


You know we'll have a good time then.”



Same story. Same life. Same narrative.

The point:

There is a narrative written for life. It was written for all of us and each of us before time began. And we each have a role in that story. Some of us are a letter, some a word. A phrase. A sentence. A book. Books. A punctuation: (  ).

None are more important or more valuable than the others. So, what value is there to speed-reading through the moments we are given. To experience the rich ink of our individual and collective stories. More? Faster? Now? Better?

Ever experienced a moment like this: You are driving with someone down the highway, and off to the left you notice a rolling, open field of tall emerald grass. Bending, shimmering its slender fingers through the steady breeze. “Look at that amazing field over there. Isn’t that an amazing picture?” The image is acknowledged and then is out of view and mind, lost to everything that’s ahead. And did you happen to think about or notice “one single blade” in that luminous field; that one, combined with the many ones gathered into that wonderful whole picture? The art and intentionality of the one emerald scratch of light on the landscape? A moment of (   ).

There are many parentheses inserted for emphasis happening right now all around you. Less. Slower. Naturally. More.

For emphasis.  Cat's In the Cradle Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH46SmVv8SU

(b)