To the edge

Only minutes remain before I am to start scribing an event in Hollywood (sigh: Florida) and I am staring into the huge eyes of a robot.

She is not animate at the moment.  And for that matter, she does not have artificial intelligence – her handlers pre-program her language – so she doesn’t represent the kind of cutting edge technology that is a common theme in corporate planning sessions.  But people are drawn to her, nonetheless.  It’s those Bambi eyes, I guess.

I am frequently capturing content in meetings regarding machine learning, robotics and AI.  Everyone seems to be reaching to predict how life, how the workplace, will change as they become more prevalent.  Because they will.  It is in human nature to press to the limits of the possible.

Later, the event finishes while there’s still daylight (a rare thing for me), and I have time to stand on the beach and enjoy the see breeze.  Looking down the coast, I am impressed by the tall resorts that stand like sentinels watching the sea.  It makes me think again of our love of pushing boundaries.

T.S. Eliot said, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go.”  I have my moments of risk-taking, as well.  Earlier today, I attempted once again to capture live skits.  It’s tough.  Capturing likenesses and dialogue simultaneously is about the limit of what I can do in real time.

But there’s a tremendous feeling of being alive when one pushes one’s frontier.  I’m not sure why.  God has created us to hunger after growth, after discovery.  We are all born explorers.

Here’s the wonderful thing: we are insatiable discoverers with an inexhaustibly amazing God.  With him, every time we think we’re approaching the edge of who he is or what he can do, there’s more.

Limitless God, you have created us with a deep need for “more.”  And every time we venture forth to discover, we are on a road that ultimately leads to you.  Thank you for drawing us deeper.  Ultimately our joy of accomplishment, of pushing our limits, is a part of the wonder of how limitless you are.  As we break through into that unknown land, we find you there waiting for us.