I will freely admit it….I am a bit of a technophobe. Take remote controls, for instance. Today, we have no less than five of them sitting on the family room coffee table…. one that came with the TV, one delivered by the cable guy, one for the Blu-Ray player, one for the HD-DVD player and a Universal remote that I am still disappointed will not control my universe. There are just too many buttons to push and most of the time I have no clue what remote goes to which doodad. In my day the television remote had three buttons….power, volume and channel, and since there were only five channels it didn’t take long to surf.
I still remember the day at the law firm my boss brought in a word processor for the first time. I was terrified. Okay, those of you howling on the floor with my use of the phrase “word processor” in the same context as technology, get a grip. It WAS the latest and greatest at one time…..until we all figured out it was just a typewriter with an attitude.
I don’t like change, but I’ve seen plenty of it in my years. Technology has marched across my path peddling its wares and then disappearing into the distant past, barely remembered. Eight track tape, anyone? I guess over the years I’ve grown to look at “technology” as those neighbors who move in and two months later they’re packing up the U-haul to head on to Dubuque. Don’t get attached, and for heaven’s sake don’t loan them anything.
Yes, the world is just moving too fast. I didn’t get a laptop computer until they were almost out of fashion. I totally missed the whole “iPod” craze. I was just too slow to catch on, I guess. Now we’ve moved on and can access untold thousands of songs on “iTunes”. We couldn’t function without our “iPhone” to do everything from calculate the tip on a beef brisket dinner to asking Siri directions to the nearest Piggly Wiggly. I can pull out my “iPhone” and send an instant message to a friend in Ireland or Google the answer to life’s burning questions right there at the lunch counter….like how many episodes of Leave it to Beaver did Eddie Haskell appear in. Amazing, isn’t it? Let’s not forget the “iPad” which has single-handedly made my laptop obsolete before I’ve even had time to get a scratch on it.
Our technology has brought us a world of music on demand, access to millions of facts online, communication around the globe in seconds…… instant knowledge, instant direction, instant communication at our fingertips. One would think that with all these “i” based advantages this generation would be the most educated, confident and empowered generation in history….but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It appears, instead, that we spend far too much time concentrating on these devilish gizmos…..the “iFear”, the “iDoubt” and the “iCan’t”.
These pieces of “technology” are really just hand-me-downs from centuries ago. They are all manufactured by the same entity and have been repackaged and relabeled year after year to be sold to another unsuspecting generation. Unlike Apple who proudly displays its logo, the manufacturer of the “iFear”, the “iDoubt” and the “iCan’t” chooses to remain anonymous so that his nefarious plans can be better carried out. However, Timothy did a pretty good job of ferreting out the identity of this character when he said in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” So….if God was not the manufacturer of fear, there’s only one other choice…yep….you guessed it, ole slewfoot.
Doubt is just fear in a Pelican case. It looks and sounds nicer than plain old fear. We can say we don’t fear, we only doubt. But then what is doubt, but the fear that what we hope is true is not.
The “iCan’t” has been sold to millions and is largely responsible for feelings of hopelessness and despair. It’s been a boon to the sales of Prozac and Xanax for those who say, “iCan’t” face this situation and “iCan’t” face another day, “iCan’t” get that job, “iCan’t” improve myself. The “iCan’t” also interfaces with the “iFear” to keep people from even trying to do better.
You will find, however, that the “iCan’t” can be disabled by plugging in the Philippians 4:13 component which will allow you to say, “I CAN do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
So…..there you have it. Let’s dump the old “technology” and upgrade to the “iBelieve”, because it will never be obsolete.
Janice
