Before we get much further, let me be clear. I am a computer operator not a computer programmer, developer or whiz kid. I do well to peck my way through word processing software. My astute high school typing training continues to haunt me. Let’s just say I am all thumbs. I still peek at the keyboard. When I want to start a new line, I think you have to press return, not enter. Suggesting this command to younger co-workers often results in a bewildered look.
My age is starting to show in more ways than one. When I was in high school, electric typewriters were the rage. The first personal computers were just starting to become available as I graduated from college. I still remember the day, as a young corporate executive, that I watched a printed page roll out from the bottom of a desktop printer. I saw it as a sign of the end times! How could life get any better? But then came the fax machine. Talk about amazing!
I pounded out correspondence on a typewriter for years. Misspell a word and you were forced to start over. Making a correction was painful. You had to back space, insert a thin piece of white filmed paper between the typewriter and the document. Once alignment was achieved the incorrect key was then re-fired. As a result, the incorrect letter was covered in white. It was very important that you hit back space again and then type the correct letter. If you were not on top of your game, you would type the new letter over one space too many and the whole process had to be restarted! Typewriters were not very forgiving. Mistakes could be rectified but not without a lot of finagling.
My first personal computer cost $3,000 and had about as much memory as a floppy disc. Oh, my. Here we go again. I will save the floppy disc history lesson for another day when I report on eight-track tapes!
As you know, computer capacities, speeds and efficiencies continue to dramatically change. Who could deny that technology has made things better? The world is truly a better place. Or is it? Things may be better, but are we? With all the change that has taken place, the people on the other side of the screen have changed little.
Some believe education is the key to change. Others see innovation as our hope. Still others are convinced that with just a little more money, everything will be much better, and our problems will simply fade away.
Times may change and things may change, but people don’t change until they have a change of heart. Jesus is in the heart-changing business. Rest assured that those who have truly given their lives to Him and trusted in Him have been changed forever. When it comes to following Jesus, once you are changed, you are always changed. Finding Jesus is like discovering a computer after having spent years pecking and peeking away at a typewriter. Who would ever want to go back to the way things were? Not me!
