Time magazine's person of the year is...

"You. Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world. "

This article gives me hope for our world. In a time of terrorists, civil war, starvation, and other disasters both natural and man-made, Time has chosen to recognize US, the people who put the world into the world wide web:

It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

I am constantly amazed at the many free resources, and the wealth of knowledge and experiences literally at my fingertips, every time I log on to the Internet-- people who share willingly without the need or even the desire for fame or fortune, who do something for the common good. I come in contact with a lot of people who still believe that computers will isolate us from each other when exactly the opposite has happened. We are connected with like-minded individuals from across town, or around the world. I've never really thought about how powerful that is.

Thank you, Time magazine, for reminding us that

This is an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not
politician to politician, great man to great man, but citizen to citizen, person
to person. It's a chance for people to look at a computer screen and really,
genuinely wonder who's out there looking back at them.

This evening my wife was working on her school's Christmas card that will be displayed on their website. The verse she selected comes from the book of Luke... "and on earth peace, good will toward men." I feel like we have a real opportunity to spread that good will on a scale we've never before imagined possible. I'm not naive-- but I am hopeful.