It's a small world after all! If you've been to Disney World, you've probably ridden the ride and heard the song. Well guess what! They've remodeled the ride! It's only fitting that they did. Our world has gotten even smaller in the last twenty years!

I began my day by visiting with Phillip Wong who lives in Hong Kong. I then visited with others in Denmark, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. I even visited with a good ol' boy in Clearwater, Florida! What's more, I didn't talk with them over the telephone. Instead I talked with them over the Internet using televoice features.

Last night I watched folks from all over the USA talk and visit from their own homes via video conferencing. Night before last, I sent letters to friends in the Czech Republic, Brazil, and Thailand. They received these email letters minutes after my sending them.

I was interrupted writing this article by the Federal Express delivery person. I placed my order late last night and I received from several thousand miles away before 9:30 this morning. Through CNN I can get the latest breaking news live on TV or the Internet within minutes of it happening anywhere in the world.

We live in a small world. There are several effects of this new reality. Some are good. Some are not so good. We will have greater difficulty shielding our children from the problems of the world because of this instant communication. This gives them a false sense of danger and fear because all of the world's catastrophes come falling down on them. They are no longer allowed to be naive children. They have to know too much too soon.

On the other hand, they will have access to information from all over the world at their fingertips. The excuses for prejudice and ignorance about other people, lands, and cultures will simply be more and more lame. Since we can personally visit with folks from all over the world, we have no excuse for not knowing about them.

But some things will not change. We still need a reason to live. We need to have something we believe in enough to live and die for. We need a central orienting set of beliefs that helps us know who we are are and how we are to live. We still need a reason to hope.

As we know more and more about our world, we will also learn about more and more of life's problems and injustices. We need to know that there's more to this life than what gets done while we're here. We need to be assured that reunion with those who have gone on before is a reality. We still need healing and tenderness. The broken places in our hearts and the broken things in our bodies still need to be tended to by people who can physically touch us and mend us.

In other words, the vital things that have sustained humanity in the past will be the same vital things that sustain in the future with our shrinking world and our information overload. These three things are faith, hope, and love. In a high tech world, let's not forget that what makes us human are these three areas of "high touch."

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