On the Original Match.com

am i the only person who gets sick every time a commercial for an internet dating site comes on tv?
eHarmony, match.com... others.
Like, that right there is prime example of "leftovers" from the dot-com boom.
You know, when the mid-’90s came around, commercials for websites were abundant. People over in Palo Alto were making gobs of cash without spending any effort; it was the heyday of e-commerce, and TV ads were just another way to increase business.

Flash-forward to post-bust and the line is a lot more blurred between "internet business" and regular business. Sure, there’s "free credit report.com", which isn’t free, but other than that and other exceptions, eHarmony and match.com are pretty much the only TV ads we ever see anymore that are for exclusively browser-bound businesses.

So why does it make me sick?
It’s like the pinnacle of what technology allows us to do.
For so long, "getting hitched" has been one of the most important life decisions you can make. And we can find people now effortlessly. Not to mention the stigma of meeting up with someone you’ve never seen before. You’re just paying money to talk to a picture of someone’s face.
weird.
and lame.

But amazingly, the internet dating site has become rather successful.
You have those people in the commercials talking about how "perfect" their meeting was, people getting married... there’s no problem at all with forging relationships over the internet. All you have to do is ask a kid who’s addicted to runescape or WOW, and the only difference between IRL and internet friends is the face and the voice... which can even be a nonissue with skype.

Then there’s the people who do like, "meet-ups" with their MMORPG friends, where people drive/take the bus for miles just to meet some of their in-game buddies in a cafe or somesuch. And they come back with tales of a grand time.
Personally, i’d find it a little creepy...and unnerving... especially when you’re with a bunch of people who know you by your username and not your actual, legal name.

Weirdness aside, the internet has proven what pen-pals have known for ages: it is not necessary to see, hear, smell, touch, or taste someone in order to have a relationship with them. (as in friendship) All that is necessary is a form of communication. The rest is just enhancement.

Sherman, set the WayBack machine for the middle 1st century AD.
Jesus is talking to his disciples; things are winding down for his ministry before the crucifixion, and Jesus is telling his followers to trust in what is going to happen.
John 14:6&7 reads:
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. no one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Jesus answered, "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father, And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.""[NIV]

The Disciples were a unique group of men. On the one hand, they had the once-in-forever chance of being face-to-face with Jesus. On the other hand, they had to carry the incredible truth of salvation onwards and spread the Gospel. Which comes with a whole long list of opposition, oppression, torture, the like.

Anyhow, re-read the passage and realize something.
For the past few years, these guys have been through everything together. They’re tight. Like, imagine a size small t-shirt on the fattest kid you know... that’s how tight. Circulation-destroyingly tight. Sweat-producingly tight.
And the words Jesus uses are "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?"
Sure, Philip and the rest of the Gang knew Jesus. But they didn’t entirely grasp everything he was all about.
Which we can’t blame them for... it’s a pretty ridiculous concept: "I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me"... like, unless you’ve grown up in a church, that’s a pretty weird statement right there.
And none of these guys grew up in a church.

But realize at the end, what he says to them: "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
Those are the words of a friend.

The disciples were standing face-to-face with God himself, the creator of everything, the essence of Love, pure power... and he’s their friend. That’s pretty overwhelmingly awesome.

Jesus and his disciples obviously had excellent relationships.
But as a Christian, the notion kind of bubbles on the back-burner of how, with our physical inability to be face-to-face with Jesus, we can still have a similar relationship to him.
We don’t need to talk to him, we don’t need to watch him make a ruckus in a synagogue, don’t need to see him snap fish into 5,000 pieces... all we need is that simple communication. The internet has shown us that.