More Advanced? Progession?

It is so great to be back! The last month has been so crazy. I had my in-laws in town for a week and as we dropped them off to leave (literally) we got on the plane to fly to Philadelphia, which was so fantastic. We splurged and stayed in Valley Forge, where we went to the National Park as well as the Evangelical Theological Society National Meeting. Husband and I being VERY big fans of books, loved it as most of the books are significantly discounted and there are vendors as far as the eye can see. It was beautiful. Chris was also able to attend many of the conference sessions, which was exciting and I even attended one as well. But even better than that, my husband and son were able to meet my grandparents who live in Middletown, PA. They are so wonderful and the most talented couple I know. My Grandfather does amazing things with wood and I don't know anything that my Grandma can't sew. I have quilts and trivets and hope chests and to me there is nothing better than something that was made by a person with their own hands, especially a family member. We stayed with my Uncle and Aunt (who is Italian and cooks like all good Italian women - fantastic) and then we stayed with my Grandma and Grandpap a night. I am so blessed that my hubby allowed us to make the trip to see them. With Grandpap being the only grandfather that I ever knew and my father having died before Chris ever got to meet him, it was especially wonderful that my Grandpap thought so much of my hubby as it meant so much for him to offer his blessing on our family. I realize that we are already married and it would be a bit late if he didn't like him, but Grandpap stated several times, "you got a good one." I know. I really do. That meant so much for the only patriarch I have to offer such approving remarks for my husband. I know that if my Dad were alive, he would totally approve and even find a kinship with my sweetie pie. They are so alike it is hysterical. Anyhow, it was a great trip and since I have been back, I have been working at getting some serious grading done. I am nearly finished and I am amazed I was able to get it all done. I must praise God for ordering my day and giving me the strength to get through it all. He is certainly sovereign.

But what of my title? More Advanced? Progression? This is just something I have been thinking alot about lately. Last night, Spousy and I were watching the special about health care and how people are largely not encouraged to do price comparisons when it comes to medicine (and I mean the field rather than simply pharmaceuticals). People simply pay what is left after their insurance pays and don't worry about what the insurance companies are forced to pay. But meanwhile, insurance costs go up and more and more people are unable to afford the monthly rates and so are left without insurance. Along with this, they mentioned that more and more people are being saved (in the physical sense rather than the spiritual). So certainly, I can not look around and see that more premature babies are being saved and people are surviving illnesses where in the past, they didn't have a chance, but then I realize that I barely know my neighbors. I have all this technology which is supposed to make life easier, right? But is life really easier? All this technology requires maintenance which also takes up time. I sometimes just wonder what it was like to live in a society where there was not sooo much "stuff." I know the worries were different, but what has technological advancement really done for our souls? I fear that we are more disconnected from people rather than connected. I fear that we have not progressed at all, but digressed. But then my mother, who is brilliant in her own right, mentions that in many ways we are connected with people that we could have never had connection with because of technology. For instance, we can communicate with people across with world in minutes. But it is a different kind of communication than what you can have with your neighbor as you sit together and watch your children play in the leaves. How can we use what we have today (technology-wise) and make it like the days where we all admitted that we need each other?