A while back I was rummaging through my CD collection and came upon a Chesky sound testing CD. I remembered there was a demonstration of analog vs. digital recording and the effects of copying. In the analog version (some of you may be old enough to remember this) we had audio tape and when copies were made, fidelity was lost resulting in what recording engineers lovingly referred to as “hiss”. However, in the digital version, copies were made to the 100th generation from the master recording and there was no difference in the audio quality from the 100th generation version to the original master. Of course we all know this now but at the time when digital recording was new, it was a remarkable discovery.
This brings me to Jesus. I am convinced that he was tapped into the same reality of no loss of quality or content. But we’re not talking about digital recordings, we talking about God’s grace. Jesus states clearly that “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father”. He later passes that identical grace to his Apostles, and it goes on and on and on…..
The grace we encounter in our God moments is the very same grace that Jesus experienced from the Father. It never changes because it comes directly from God and God never changes.
Chuck Marohnic
Director of Music for Darkwood Brew
Chuck, I certainly agree that the reality (grace) that Jesus was plugged into passes without loss. I wonder though, if we, as the physical mechanisms (old, analog tape recorders?), are inserting layer upon layer of hiss? But where is the digital remaster?
Nice points, Chuck and Brian. I think that grace is “digital” and Christian theology/tradition/structure is “analog.” Every 500 years there has been a major “digital remastering.” We’re in one right now!