The first baby monitor hit the market in 1937.
Spooked by the kidnapping of the Lindberg baby, the president of Zenith came up
with the idea of a ‘Radio Nurse.’ The modernistic Bakelite device was launched
with great fanfare, but never really caught on – mainly because it cost $325 in
today’s dollars and it frequently picked up ball games and comedy shows in
addition to baby’s coos and cries.
But the idea that we could listen in on baby no matter when and where would continue to be attractive, though it would have to wait until the wireless technologies of the 1980’s came along to make this practical.
Today, baby monitors are as ubiquitous as diapers and pacifiers. We want to listen – even watch via baby cams – because we care and we love. And we do well to consider that God does the same with us.
One of the more pervasive temptations you and I face today is this idea that our lives are insignificant – that we’re unimportant, irrelevant, or even worthless. You may be feeling that today. Our world population is burgeoning, our celebrity/consumer culture tells us we’re constantly missing out, and our world overall, seems like it’s spinning faster and faster, even uncontrollably so.
In Sunday’s Gospel you and I will hear a familiar story of an encounter Jesus has with a Samaritan woman at the well. He surprises this stranger by telling her intimate details of her life. And in doing so reminds us that God is just as well acquainted with our lives.
It makes us suspect that God is more intimately familiar with and interested in our lives than we think. It makes us ponder the notion that this God, who has knowledge of every sparrow falling from a bush, actually cares for us as much as we care about our newborns. For, let us not be surprised that one day we discover our lives are infinitely more significant than we imagined.
What this offers is not simply comfort in knowing that we’re heard, but courage in taking up our cause. Our voice matters. Our actions matter. The convictions we harbor regarding the injustice and inequality around us deserve to be expressed. Speak up, your voice is being heard.
But the idea that we could listen in on baby no matter when and where would continue to be attractive, though it would have to wait until the wireless technologies of the 1980’s came along to make this practical.
Today, baby monitors are as ubiquitous as diapers and pacifiers. We want to listen – even watch via baby cams – because we care and we love. And we do well to consider that God does the same with us.
One of the more pervasive temptations you and I face today is this idea that our lives are insignificant – that we’re unimportant, irrelevant, or even worthless. You may be feeling that today. Our world population is burgeoning, our celebrity/consumer culture tells us we’re constantly missing out, and our world overall, seems like it’s spinning faster and faster, even uncontrollably so.
In Sunday’s Gospel you and I will hear a familiar story of an encounter Jesus has with a Samaritan woman at the well. He surprises this stranger by telling her intimate details of her life. And in doing so reminds us that God is just as well acquainted with our lives.
It makes us suspect that God is more intimately familiar with and interested in our lives than we think. It makes us ponder the notion that this God, who has knowledge of every sparrow falling from a bush, actually cares for us as much as we care about our newborns. For, let us not be surprised that one day we discover our lives are infinitely more significant than we imagined.
What this offers is not simply comfort in knowing that we’re heard, but courage in taking up our cause. Our voice matters. Our actions matter. The convictions we harbor regarding the injustice and inequality around us deserve to be expressed. Speak up, your voice is being heard.
