The Great Emergence

I just started reading The Great Emergence by Phyllis Tickle. Quite frankly, I believe this may be one of the most important books written in the last number of years, particularly for anyone who is an observer of the changing times we live in, both within and outside the church. I'm only four pages in and am already astounded. Check this quote:

"When we become agitated - and agitate each other - about how we are drowning in information overload, in correspondence, and in the stress of unending "TO-DO" lists, we are talking about the Great Emergence, or at least about one small part of its presence as a new time in human history. When, for example, we discover we can no longer do so simple a thing as running sums in our heads, but instead have to turn to our calulators, we are recognizing that we are storing more and more of our "selves" outside of ourselves and thereby creating a dependency that is, at very least, unsetteling." (italics mine)

Tickle is not the first to identify this "self outside of self" concept, but she has a way of saying profound things in simple ways that make me look forward to where she is heading with this observation and the rest of the book.