Technology - Who-needs-it prayer!
Whether you drink or not, I think this speaks for a lot of things!
I received a wine warmer for Christmas. It's February now and, I have to admit, I have yet to take it from its box. I feel very ungrateful.
But perhaps you don't know what a wine warmer is. It's a jacket you put round your bottle of red wine and once activated it warms the liquid to the ideal temperature. Sounds good, doesn't it? I thought so too until I read the small print. Apparently, once the jacket is used you have to immerse it in boiling water for 20 minutes before it can be used again. In other words, here is a labour-saving device that actually requires more not less effort to operate. Rather like Fred Flintstone's car that moves by leg rather than engine power. So far I've always managed to warm wine quite successfully by leaving it standing in the kitchen - boiling water plays no part in the process at all.
The wine warmer comes with another interesting device - an electronic wine breather. Wow! Simply insert three batteries (not provided) and switch it on and it "gently bubbles" air through your wine bottle, so releasing all the hidden flavours. Perhaps next year I'll be given a device to drink the wine for me - and then comment eloquently on the experience.
Sometimes, just sometimes, do you wonder whether technology has gone too far? I enjoy gadgets as much as the next man, but I'm sure the next man, like me, also prefers to sit back and take his refreshment without first boiling a wine warmer and rushing out to the shops for three batteries. Or, to put it another way, when you're chilling out, who needs a wine warmer?
But perhaps you don't know what a wine warmer is. It's a jacket you put round your bottle of red wine and once activated it warms the liquid to the ideal temperature. Sounds good, doesn't it? I thought so too until I read the small print. Apparently, once the jacket is used you have to immerse it in boiling water for 20 minutes before it can be used again. In other words, here is a labour-saving device that actually requires more not less effort to operate. Rather like Fred Flintstone's car that moves by leg rather than engine power. So far I've always managed to warm wine quite successfully by leaving it standing in the kitchen - boiling water plays no part in the process at all.
The wine warmer comes with another interesting device - an electronic wine breather. Wow! Simply insert three batteries (not provided) and switch it on and it "gently bubbles" air through your wine bottle, so releasing all the hidden flavours. Perhaps next year I'll be given a device to drink the wine for me - and then comment eloquently on the experience.
Sometimes, just sometimes, do you wonder whether technology has gone too far? I enjoy gadgets as much as the next man, but I'm sure the next man, like me, also prefers to sit back and take his refreshment without first boiling a wine warmer and rushing out to the shops for three batteries. Or, to put it another way, when you're chilling out, who needs a wine warmer?
Lord God, may we learn where technology does and where it doesn't enrich our lives. Help us to enjoy simply the simple things, and to delight in all the rich flavours of your creation.
Amen
John Armes - BBC4
