What if living in an advanced society is not enough?

The ongoing development of technology is revolutionising every dimension of the human experience. Advances in genetics are helping doctors diagnose, treat, and prevent disease on an unprecedented scale. Retailers are developing ways to deliver their products to our homes via drones. Mobile devices allow people to work remotely more easily than ever. Autonomous vehicles may eventually enable people to commute to the office while working in their cars (if people go to an office at all). As a result, suburbs will extend farther from city centres than ever before. It’s hard to identify a dimension of our daily lives that is unaffected by the amazing advances of technology. Those with the skill and discipline to create and market such remarkable inventions deserve the gratitude of those of us who benefit from their expertise daily. And yet, despite all our astounding scientific progress our world is still in trouble. For instance:

Is it true?

 

Sometimes you wonder if the information you get is actually true, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall. With the advent of AI, and the ease with which images can now be altered and manipulated, along with the deliberate spread ofmisinformation on social media, how can you be sure of the truth of a matter?

Some organisations like the BBC have “Verify” procedures which check their news
reports to give some reassurance. Against this there are online statements and
Twitter posts which carry the label “Truth”, but that name hides their intent and
content.

In court cases and public enquiries, evidence must be backed up and established by
two or three witnesses. This fundamental aspect of testimony was declared in the
Bible around 3500 years ago (Deuteronomy 19.15) and remains basic to the
administration of justice in civilised societies. False witnesses sometimes try to
bolster an unworthy cause, as happened when Jesus Christ was being tried by
Pontius Pilate. They failed, but the sentence was still a serious miscarriage of justice.

Queen Elizabeth II

 

Three years ago this week Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 surrounded by her family. In the year of her Platinum Jubilee, the longest serving monarch passed away at her beloved Scottish estate, Balmoral. 

Buckingham Palace made the simple announcement at 6.30pm on Thursday 8 September 2022, stating: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."

For 70 years Her Majesty The Queen had been the centre of our culture. The Queen’s image has adorned billions of coins and banknotes and sat proudly on letters carrying good news and bad. Her name has been given to places near and far, buildings, ships and train lines. She sat for hundreds of portraits and inspired thousands more. She had been imitated more than any other public figure, BUT there was only one original. 

On Friday 3 June 2022 Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York delivered the sermon in St Paul's Cathedral during a service to mark and celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the very original person she was. On that occasion he reminded us that, “Jesus is worth following because Jesus shows us who God is, and what our humanity could be. And there are many occasions in the gospels where we see Jesus Himself, faithful to His vocation, seeking out places of replenishing so that He can learn God’s way. The purpose of the Christian faith is to know and to do God’s will.

Do you know God as your Father?

 

To be rejected and left alone is a dreadful experience and one which can cause and leave deep emotional and psychological scars for life in those abandoned.  Simone Lang was an Australian school teacher who spent some time in India.  There, she taught in a Christian school to help educate the poor and those who could not afford to go to the state schools.  In the school was a little boy by the name of Jonathan and he lived in a nearby children’s home. 

She got to know the little boy, and gradually he opened up his heart to her as she conversed with him.  His parents had abandoned him when he was three years old and had left him at the children’s home.  They had abdicated all responsibility for him and had left him to be brought up by others who would try to show him some sort of love and kindness.  His parents were still alive and one day he received a letter from them stating that they would come and visit him on a particular day, namely the first day of December.  This gave him a wonderful feeling and he shared his excitement of looking forward to seeing his parents with Simone. She realised that this would be a wonderful day for this little boy.