Computing for giraffes

Posted on by

Thoughts on multiple citizenship

I’m sure you’ve all read the Christmas cracker joke about giraffes and their long necks:

Q: why do giraffes have long necks?

A: because their feet smell

I’m reminded of this today as I watch discussions unfold about Cloud computing and all the benefits it offers us. Didn’t any of you ever get told off as children for having your head in the clouds, though?

I am a citizen of many countries. My passport tells a different story, but nonetheless it is true. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom, which has territorial and temporal limits. I am a citizen of God’s eternal kingdom – which has neither. I am a citizen of digital space, which has neither temporal nor territorial limits, and where the rules are being made up as we go along.

The thing is, that digital space is often so much neater than its terrestrial alternative. I can choose those with whom I associate, I can drop out of conversations when they bore me or irritate me and I can choose my degree of involvement at any time. Conversely, as a pastor – it falls to me to involve myself with the harsh realities of non-digital life where opinions clash, personalities collide, bodies age and birth and death sit cheek by jowl.

I must resist the temptation to turn into a digital giraffe – where my neck extends further and further into the cloud(s) in order to escape the smell of real life emanating from around my feet.

6 thoughts on “Computing for giraffes”

  1. ‘I must resist the temptation to turn into a digital giraffe – where my neck extends further and further into the cloud(s) in order to escape the smell of real life emanating from around my feet.’

    Spot on, and guilty as charged.
    Still if real life does stink, losing oneself in the cirrus uncinus (http://bit.ly/jcVYfe) has to be better than hitting the bottle or running amok with a machete doesn’t it? Some of us are good at dealing with smelly feet, some of us are better at writing ‘War and Peace’ from the comfort of our desks, while trying to deal with the general public from the neck up!

    Reply ↓

  3. Pingback: It started with a click « Richard Littledale's Preacher's A – Z

  4. Pingback: 7 words is not enough « Richard Littledale's Preacher's A – Z

  5. Giraffes are good at sticking their necks out though, and as followers of Jesus sometimes we have to stick our necks out too.

    We have a Sunday morning youth group called “Giraffes for Jesus”, so called (now) because we’re sticking our necks out for Jesus.

    Either way I like where you are coming from.

    Reply ↓