Virtual Reality

Did I read it someplace, or did I just dream it? At this stage of life it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference, but somehow I got the impression that older people are now forming virtual retirement villages. These villages exist on the Internet by means of social media, I believe.
If this is going on, these must be newly retired people, people who feel virtual reality is just as real as, well, real reality, or at least as real as the kind of reality to which I’ve grown accustomed. Being somewhat past retirement age, I may be beyond the stage where one easily adjusts to virtual reality on the Internet. In fact, I’m not sure why we capitalize it—Internet. It’s interesting that about the time we began calling the internet the Internet, scholars I follow began calling the Bible the bible.
Now I admit that I use the Internet virtually every day. I Google stuff I want a quick fix on and get a million point two quick half-wrong and incomplete answers. I take my chances and try to pick the best answer for me, then go on my merry way knowing just what I’ve got. Looking stuff up in reference books gives better answers and often doesn’t take as long. It’s just that the reference book I need may be several steps away. Yep, laziness can be time consuming. I’m sort of getting used to this, chalking it up to the difficulty I’m having of getting out of chairs.
So, OK, the Internet is a useful tool, but virtual retirement villages? I’m not sure that would do it for me. For instance, can I have a virtual hot tub in my virtual retirement village? Can I have a virtual therapy pool? Or a virtual acupuncturist? Will any of this ease the ongoing pain in my lower back, which is decidedly not virtual? I wonder if I can get virtual hot cakes with my virtual breakfast in this village, with virtual maple syrup of course.
Clearly, I just don’t see the point of this kind of virtuality, but I wish retirement blessings upon all those who do.
However, I very much see the point of that kind of virtuality in which a virtual star moves westward across the virtual sky over a virtual desert leading the virtual wise men on their virtual pilgrimage to the wonder and warmth of a special birth. That this birth occurs inside us doesn’t make it any less real to me. The Bible is full of virtualities that make deep realities known. That’s why it should be spelled with a capital B. All the holy books I know about are like this.
I even see the point of virtual Santa Claus dropping down virtual chimneys all over the world to bring real tricycles to virtually good little girls and boys.
Christmas is just one of the deep realities brought to us through the beautiful virtualities that faith makes real in the heart. It’s more precious to me than a virtual hot tub, but I wouldn’t mind having a real live hot water hot tub with powerful jets just the right height to massage my aching back. I hope Santa can get one down my virtual chimney.
Columnist Bob Jones is the former minister of the Guerneville and Monte Rio Community Churches.