The week
between Christmas and New Year's, I spent some of time digitally scanning 35mm
slides that my father-in-law had taken over the course of about forty-years.
The slides recorded his life's journey. They recorded places to which he had
travelled, people he had known, his well-loved family, and his ministry. While
I processed the slides, my thoughts drifted not only over the events and people
he photographed but also over how dramatically technology has changed in the
last two centuries.
Before
the Civil War, photography was rare; in the latter half of the nineteenth
century, photography remained too difficult and expensive for most amateurs;
professionals took the preponderance of photographs. Then, inventive
individuals such as George Eastman, founder of Kodak, lowered the cost and
simplified the process. Photography soared in affordability and popularity.
Today,
film is increasingly difficult to obtain. The Kodak Corporation is struggling
to survive. Cameras are almost all digital; stand-alone cameras are
increasingly rare as people use cameras built into a cellphone, tablet, or
other device. A replacement bulb for a 35mm slide projector – if you can find
one – is costly. A few of the sales clerks from whom I sought information about
scanners with which to digitize 35mm slides did not know what a 35mmn slide
was. Unsurprisingly, I found more information and better prices for slide
scanners on the internet.
So, is
the book of Ecclesiastes wrong? Are there some new things under the sun?
People
take and cherish photographs because human memories are fallible and
incomplete. Furthermore, neuroscientists have demonstrated that human memory
actually degrades over time. Yet, past moments and the memories of those
moments define who I am, what I have done, and help me to recall people I love
or who are important to me.
Before
photography, people treasured other mementos, items such as a painted portrait,
lock of hair, article of clothing, or piece of furniture. People sometimes passed
mementos from one generation to the next as a means of preserving their identity
and heritage. With the advent of photography, such keepsakes became
increasingly rare. Photographs are more affordable, transportable, and easier
to share. Perhaps most important, photographs offer a fuller, richer, way to
recall precious memories.
This
desire to cherish our links with the past seems constant. Technology has
changed, but the underlying human motivation to hold on to cherished memories
that shape and inform one's identity has remained constant. This is not new.
The
anamnesis – the part of the Eucharistic prayer that recalls Jesus' life, death,
and resurrection – is important precisely because it preserves our link with
Jesus. We have no photographs of Jesus and no keepsakes (unless one accepts as
genuine alleged artifacts of the true cross, the shroud of Turin, or other such
items of highly dubious historicity). Our connection to Jesus is verbal,
perhaps fittingly so given the gospel of John's portrayal of Jesus as the Word
of God.
When
Jesus seems distant, or unreal, the anamnesis (or, remembrance) that informs
and shapes our Christian identity can helpfully center on the life of a saint,
i.e., a person in whose life we, or at least some Christians, have seen or
heard God's word en-fleshed. In our remembrance, we can experience anew God's
presence and love, exactly as recalling other cherished memories enables us to
renew that part of our identity and heritage.
My
father-in-law died a decade ago. His widow thinks that my digitizing his 35mm
slides would have delighted him because the digital images are so much easier
to store, see, and share than are his antiquated and deteriorating 35mm slides.
I wonder
if these changes are portents of the future. The information age offers hope
that the next generation can live more fully at a lower environmental cost. Humans
will still need shelter, clothes, furniture, and kitchens. But the cherished
possessions that make us who we are – art, music, books, entertainment,
memories, and much more – will all be digital, enabling people to live in
smaller yet more comfortable domiciles. Perhaps a season of twenty-first
century content focused humans will follow the twentieth century's season of
conspicuous consumption. This is just one sign of hope that I discern for our
creating a better, greener, richer, and more peaceful world.
As the
2014 begins, many of us make resolutions of things we want to do (or not do!)
this year. Our memories can transform life's moments from disconnected dots
into a ray, a trajectory anchored by birth at one end. What is the trajectory
of your life, i.e., toward what (or whom) is your life aimed? In other words,
what is your spiritual anamnesis?