Three exciting responses to an email by Mr. Joe of ToI, TVM. Original mail appears after the three responses. Have some cheerful!!! moments:-)
That was an interesting New Year message. Like God is with the Gentiles now, the news is with the common people. These are exciting days indeed. Wish you a wonderful, blessed 2011!
Sabin Iqbal
Your restructuring of the progression from Jesus downwards to these times is superior in quality, dear Joe. But I feel not just the teak poles but even their concrete avatars will have to follow suit when time and technology would make it possible that power is generated in room temperature. And that will be the real democratization of all information, data, knowledge, wisdom and even bliss. It will eradicate the era of all mediators, of all wooden and cemented money makers.
NRS Babu
Profound analogy, Joe. So, even during Christmas sermons, your mind is immersed in the sinking print-titanic. (Your Rev. Pastor is not going to be too happy about this.) But, work is workship, eh?
M Sarita Varma
Original mail below:
While listening to Church messages through Christmas week, this
thought about the growing irrelevance of traditional media struck me.
The birth of Jesus, more than 2,000 years ago, marked the beginning of
the end of priesthood in the Jewish Church. Putting an end to the
cassock-wearing, sacrifice-offering priests like Annas and Caiaphas
and generations of Levites before them who mediated between God and
men for centuries, Jesus picked a band of a dozen lay men and gave
them -- and through them all men -- priesthood.
Peter put that down in the gospel thus: (1 Peter 2: 9) But you are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging
to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His wonderful light.
What that historic act meant, was an end to priests acting as
mediators between God and men.
Now fast forward to the modern times: Nearly 15 centuries later in
1453 when Constantinople fell, it took almost one and a half months
for the news to reach the Pope. Media persons must have enjoyed those
glorious days, as the world waited days, weeks or months to be told
the news.
A good 500 years later, media persons still held esteem in society
because of the time lag in getting news across, which in turn assured
them a mediator's role between events and people.
The 21st century, however, has all but ended the mediator's role for
journalists. The high priests of news have been done in by Facebook,
MySpace, Twitter and what have you. When a boat sank in one corner of
the world in Thekkady in 2009, a good 60 minutes before any journalist
reached the spot, visuals were on YouTube as ordinary people shot the
visuals, uploaded them and discussed the news among themselves before
the breaking-news wallahs arrived.
Shorn of that mediator's role, journalists have a lot to ponder as
they step into the second decade of the 21st century four days from
now.
Will they all vanish like the teak poles that carried power lines did
when concrete and steel posts came along? Perhaps not immediately, I
guess. A good 2,000 years after Jesus demolished the institution of
temple-centric priests who acted as mediators, tens of thousands of
them are still around. Expect the keyboard and microphone-wielding
journalists also to be around for some more time. After all, some teak
poles are still around, aren't they? But they must be prepared for the
life in obscurity of a teak pole on some hillock, far removed from all
the action of the new world.
God bless you in 2011.
Sabin Iqbal
Your restructuring of the progression from Jesus downwards to these times is superior in quality, dear Joe. But I feel not just the teak poles but even their concrete avatars will have to follow suit when time and technology would make it possible that power is generated in room temperature. And that will be the real democratization of all information, data, knowledge, wisdom and even bliss. It will eradicate the era of all mediators, of all wooden and cemented money makers.
NRS Babu
Profound analogy, Joe. So, even during Christmas sermons, your mind is immersed in the sinking print-titanic. (Your Rev. Pastor is not going to be too happy about this.) But, work is workship, eh?
M Sarita Varma
Original mail below:
While listening to Church messages through Christmas week, this
thought about the growing irrelevance of traditional media struck me.
The birth of Jesus, more than 2,000 years ago, marked the beginning of
the end of priesthood in the Jewish Church. Putting an end to the
cassock-wearing, sacrifice-offering priests like Annas and Caiaphas
and generations of Levites before them who mediated between God and
men for centuries, Jesus picked a band of a dozen lay men and gave
them -- and through them all men -- priesthood.
Peter put that down in the gospel thus: (1 Peter 2: 9) But you are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging
to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His wonderful light.
What that historic act meant, was an end to priests acting as
mediators between God and men.
Now fast forward to the modern times: Nearly 15 centuries later in
1453 when Constantinople fell, it took almost one and a half months
for the news to reach the Pope. Media persons must have enjoyed those
glorious days, as the world waited days, weeks or months to be told
the news.
A good 500 years later, media persons still held esteem in society
because of the time lag in getting news across, which in turn assured
them a mediator's role between events and people.
The 21st century, however, has all but ended the mediator's role for
journalists. The high priests of news have been done in by Facebook,
MySpace, Twitter and what have you. When a boat sank in one corner of
the world in Thekkady in 2009, a good 60 minutes before any journalist
reached the spot, visuals were on YouTube as ordinary people shot the
visuals, uploaded them and discussed the news among themselves before
the breaking-news wallahs arrived.
Shorn of that mediator's role, journalists have a lot to ponder as
they step into the second decade of the 21st century four days from
now.
Will they all vanish like the teak poles that carried power lines did
when concrete and steel posts came along? Perhaps not immediately, I
guess. A good 2,000 years after Jesus demolished the institution of
temple-centric priests who acted as mediators, tens of thousands of
them are still around. Expect the keyboard and microphone-wielding
journalists also to be around for some more time. After all, some teak
poles are still around, aren't they? But they must be prepared for the
life in obscurity of a teak pole on some hillock, far removed from all
the action of the new world.
God bless you in 2011.
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