The Farm, of course, is primarily a virtual one. There are visits throughout the country, and so we do sometimes meet each other face to face. But for the most part we are in each other's inboxes. There are hundreds of people whom I know by their screen names, not their given ones. I can sometimes tell where a person lives by looking at the Internet Service Provider (the letters right after the @ sign), and often I can see where a person works -- they read the eMo or receive "Let Us Bless the Lord" at their desks.
One reader's replies amuse me. Clearly, this reader works on a military installation -- the reply comes with a large UNCLASSIFIED tag in the subject line. More assurances precede the response itself:
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE.
Imagine -- no caveats. Nothing of which to beware. And no classification -- this is a message not just for a few special people. Anyone can read it. I received a Christmas Eve message this morning from my military correspondent, and thought of just how suitable the usual reassuring notification is for the day.
And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." Unclassified, I guess. No caveats.
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