joy in appreciating expertise, as well as the benefits of technology

Today I had some appointments loaded into one day. I briskly walked to the clinic to have my blood pressure checked again - good results. A machine combined with a trained person. Then I headed over to the screening program to have a routine mammogram - again - a machine combined with a trained person. Then on to the optometrist, with the latest in technology combined with personal expertise. That was true for all these people. I came home to my husband working with his saw, measuring tape, cordless drill etc. on our kitchen shelves. Precision, knowledge, with simple tools. My nephew working on the steps to the river - his expertise combined with my husband's. I talk with an essential helper in my life - expertise in listening and reflecting back to me my personal story. How much all these people, highly trained, highly gifted, each in their own ways, made a difference in my life, today, and over time. Some I will never see again. Others I will see routinely but not often. Some I see very regularly and share and depend upon very deeply. I write to you all, depending upon technology to make a connection that is very important to me, and might be to you. This morning I received wonderful photos of Sarah and Rachel, newly together in Uganda, through an email from a longtime missionary friend. Technology combined with loving friendship. Where am I going with this? Somewhere I think we all go, if not consciously, then unconsciously, as we live out our human lives. Often these experiences and blessings are not obvious messengers or agents of God' s grace, but for those with eyes to see, we can see them that way. And of course human expertise and technology could also wound us deeply and cause us great harm. So in and of themselves they are not good or bad. But today I am particularly aware of them, in combination, and on their own, and take joy in their blessing upon my life.