In the American literary classic, Rip Van Winkle fell asleep in the Catskill Mountains and woke up 20 years later, having missed the American Revolution.
For over thirty years we have been living in the very early stages of a “digital revolution”. We are just now beginning to wake up to how this digital revolution is impacting every facet of our lives.
Email and Zoom are both the blessing and the curse of the process of waking up to a digital revolution.
In this Vincentian Mindwalk, I use “Zooming“ as a metaphor for opening our eyes to different ways of doing business… and serving.
Prophetic voices
It is not that we were not warned. A 20-year-old document from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications saw the broad outlines before most people. The Church and the Internet said …
“the Internet, which is helping bring about revolutionary changes in commerce, education, politics, journalism, the relationship of nation to nation and culture to culture—changes not just in how people communicate but in how they understand their lives.”
That same year St. John Paul II wrote
“Although the virtual reality of cyberspace cannot substitute for real interpersonal community, the incarnational reality of the sacraments and the liturgy or the immediate and direct proclamation of the gospel, it can complement them, attract people to a fuller experience of the life of faith, and enrich the religious lives of users.”
With all our zooming we have just begun to speak the language. We must go on to understand the culture.
Missionaries have been told for centuries, they must first learn the language of a new territory. But they must also understand the culture to speak effectively to that different culture.
Vincentian perspectives
Former Superior General Gregory Gay challenged Vincentians over ten years ago…
“… the world has changed faster than most of us would ever have anticipated. The internet is one of the key movers in this change. …
“I have two questions to pose to you for your reflection, my brothers.
“First, How will the world be different in just six years?
“Whether we like it or not, technology will be woven more and more into the fabric of our lives, even the lives of the poorest among us.
“Second, Will we be ready to serve in such a world?
Some 25 years ago the Final Document of the 1998 Congregation of the Mission General Assembly presciently made the connection:
“We are entering into an era of information technology which brings with it unrecognized, and therefore even more insidious forms of poverty. If the poor remain without access to information technology, they will be further marginalized and locked into a cycle of poverty.”
“We are currently seeing a two-tier education becoming solidified with children who lack of access to computers or parents poorly prepared to guide them. Their parents will increasingly be locked into jobs that will perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
As Vincentians we need to recognize how this revolution will reinforce the already existing structures of poverty.
STRUCTURAL information poverty should be a concern of all the followers of Vincent.
Allow me to modify Vincent’s well- known words: The Vincentian Family is not now what it once was. Nor is it what it is called to be.
Let us wake up to the impact of the digital revolution on those we serve.
Questions
- Am I aware that the “digital revolution” is much more profound than just using email, or “binge-watching ?
- How conscious am I of the long-term consequences of the structural dimensions of information poverty?
- Do I ask with Vincent “What must be done ” to serve in a digital culture?
Click below for an early audio version of this Vincentian Mindwalk
The “digital revolution” forced us into new areas in our relationship with Persons in need. In the past, I suspect similar revolutions had occurred when telephones became commonplace. I would love to hear how Vincent and Frederic would have reacted to doing business by phone instead of in person or by letter.
In the not too distant past, we took great lengths not to reveal our identity when making a home visit or interacting with Persons in need. We used first names only, we blocked our phone numbers, some even refused to acknowledge the person when encountering them later in a local environment (grocery store, post office, bank, etc). We valued our privacy above the privacy of Persons in need. We also jumped to the conclusion that they would unnecessarily bother us in the future.
While some concerns might have had some legitimate rationale behind them (and still do), a lot of that had to fly out the window with the current age where many Persons in need don’t trust phone calls (bill collectors, landlords, law enforcement to name a few). Their recurring preferred method of communication is a text message on their digital phone or online service. Additionally, we assess far more importance to our role in their lives. Most of them do NOT contact us later unless it is to thank us for how our assistance helped them.
With this new level of communication, we are more likely to have a relationship with Persons in need and it’s starting to look like a really good thing for all of us involved.