Online miracles: reflections of an avid surfer

Except for official mail, messages to friends, and general research, I never thought I’d make use of the Internet the way I do now.

I would say that the past 9 years of holding a “virtual” job was when I really came “up close and personal” with the Internet -- I worked from home and travelled abroad for project monitoring, meetings, conferences, etc. My time online at home and in hotels was mostly spent communicating with my bosses, associates, and supporters who were in different places. Ian was either home in Australia, on a project visit in Kenya, at a conference in Guatemala, or waiting for the rest of us in Hong Kong or Chiang Mai for one of our meetings. Herc was training staff in Ethiopia on project development. Okuda was in Fukushima meeting new contacts. Tim was in Johannesburg tinkering with the website. Ms. Leung was in Chengdu arranging for our yearly gift-giving to several hundred Chinese children. Audrey was in Quezon City finalizing the layout of our latest poster as Ellen was updating the books for the upcoming audit.

From June last year when I retired, the texture of the time I spend online has changed considerably.

First stop nowadays is the Purpose-Driven Life website for my dose of Daily Hope. This is followed by my bite of Daily Bread in its official website. Then I read the news – Inquirer.net, followed by Google and then Yahoo news. Then I check my mail.

Precipitated by my need for anonymity for specific correspondence, I put up several email accounts. They also enable me to classify my mail. They function like a filing cabinet of sorts where one account is a drawer for business matters, another for family matters, and another for what-have-you.

In my first email account, I read mail that have come in and respond to selected ones. I send out updates to clients on my progress on outputs. I scroll through tons of forwarded mail, sharing a few and junking most. I do the same thing in my other email accounts.

Then I visit certain blogsites including one a group of friends and I consider home. I perform online transactions ranging from purchasing books, dolls, DVDs, etc. to paying my bills. I also manage my emaciated bank accounts online.

Online research for me ranges from something as cursory as checking the time in Toronto or how much US$ 45 is in Japanese yen to as bland as whether “firsthand” is “first-hand” or “first hand” or really "firsthand.” To as straight-laced a topic as organizational development, interfaith-based reproductive health issues, or the suggested sugar intake for a Type 2 diabetic. To something as technical as ways of extracting an image from a background using photoshop. To something as heart-warming as Michael Jackson’s stay in an Irish hamlet. I also surf a lot for graphs, charts, etc. for wallpapers, brochures, etc.

When something I read moves me, I post comments to express my own thoughts and feelings about the subject. I sign up for petitions for causes I believe in. I watch videos that interest me. I download materials that I know I will want to read, watch or listen to over and over and over.

Of course, I cannot log off without visiting my FB page. There I exchange messages or joke around with friends sometimes.

And...I maintain this little corner of the web which I can call my very own.

The web is an open arena where one can encounter anyone and anything. You are in one site and out pops the biceps of a Latino hunk. You are in another site and a car commercial comes on. You are accessing the news and an online job teaser butts in.

But I will take the online inconveniences and annoyances I have encountered so far anytime. They are nothing compared to the speed with which I manage tasks, the insights I have gained, and most important of all, the friendships I have made, rekindled and sustained.

How wonderful that after decades I am again in touch with Alex, Andy, Alice, Angie, Aster, Celine, Ching, Chiqui, Chit, Cynthia, Dario, Deo, Ed, Edmund, Frankie, Hope, Jimmy, Joy, Julie, Kitz, Laling, Lorna, Merly, Miej, Tina, Tony, Vilma, and Violy (to name some). How comforting that I can talk to Mavic in faraway Calgary anytime, any day. Or with Yoko in Tokyo on weekends.

How amazing that at 64, I am still making new friends, not only from the US, the PRC, Japan, Thailand, Guatemala, and Vietnam but also from Argentina, Chile, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, Russia, and Sweden. Just like the man who helped forge my new international connections (guess who?), I have somehow become global, thanks to the internet!

And even if some of my online friends are faceless and some I only know by their “username,” I actually interact with them more often than I do now with my good old friends. While I do not know where in their country they are specifically based, I know some very personal bits and pieces about them -- a boyfriend's favorite dish, a girlfriend's favorite flower, their pets' names and quirks, what they do, what’s ailing them on a particular day, how rowdy the class was in school today, what happened at the office this morning, what festival they are attending this weekend, etc. And the jokes and terms of endearment are truly something else!

And these friendships are not just for a good laugh or an interesting story. Because more and more, our exchanges are coming around to learning to live life with real meaning and purpose. More and more, it is no longer just us. It is spreading truth and justice and love and concern for others -- the lost, the sick, the needy, the hurting, the threatened. And not just for mankind but for planet earth as well and for all creatures big and small.

I thank the Lord for the Internet. I think He meant it for several things. As I see now, it is a venue for almost unlimited learning – from experts including the sages from times past, from authors in places we’ve never been or could ever hope to be, from anyone who has something to share. A place where we can use our "voice" to speak for the voiceless, our gifts to delight others. Where we could care for one another – to listen to, to laugh with, to chat with, to cry with, to just be with. But most of all, it is a universe of opportunities for discerning the good from the bad, and based on that make our choices.

In the end, I think God meant it as a limitless space where man could exercise God's gift of free will. Nothing coerced, all free for the taking and the choosing. When we choose right, He is delighted. When we choose wrong, He is there to correct and to give another chance.

Incongruous and weird as it may sound, the Internet is Holy Ground. A place where miracles are happening all the time.

But how many online miracles do we see? How many do we experience? How many do we take to heart to equip us for the rest of the journey?

I hope I remember to include the internet when I thank God tonight.


(Note: I thank the owners of these images I "borrowed" from the Internet to liven up this piece. God bless you all.)