day 1177: Ephemeral Messaging

“As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain, so will you always be my people, with a name that will never disappear,” says the Lord."

Communication that is here today and gone tomorrow seems to be the rage.  Ephemeral messaging like SnapChat and now the newest entry Secret.li are finding their way into the mainstream. For those not familiar, ephemeral messaging are texts or pictures that once sent and read/viewed disappear forever. At first glance we might think that those who use these apps have something to hide, but too many people are using these applications for that to be all there is to it.  It might well be that ephemeral messaging is just the ticket for those who are more carefree than the rest of us. I'm on the opposite extreme having been taught and trained to always be able to point to a "paper trail".  Although, in these litigious days there is more emphasis on not retaining than retaining for retrieval.  Ephemeral messaging skews young right now, but we should count on it aging with the rest of us.  We don't keep track of text messages and we are texting more today than ever.  What implications can we foresee from this?  Sharpen our memories?  Expect that there might be more, "He said, she said" going on?  Likely, but might we see also a return to more face-face-face communication? As we know, for every action there is a reaction and while it seems that we might be heading one way, the reaction might, and will likely take us somewhere else. As I write this I just finished a chat session with a customer service agent that would have taken many emails back and forth with maybe days in between.  Ephemeral speed messaging.

There is nothing ephemeral about our God and His love for us. He is not here today and gone tomorrow.  His Word and Spirit does not disappear.  All around us the world is ephemeral. In the larger scheme and history of the world, we are each ephemeral and once day we will be gone.  In the meantime, the more that we do to reinforce the everlasting nature of who it is that we serve, the more we are bringing glory to God in our work and calling.  As we head out the door this afternoon for a summer weekend, let's consider who is counting on us to be lasting in their life and job and what it is that we can do to give them assurance and security that we can be counted on to be there for them.

Reference:  Isaiah 66:22 (New Living Translation)