Our Satellite TV provider recently updated the equipment in our home and the result has been overwhelming. Suddenly, we have more TV viewing options than we will ever, in our limited digital abilities, be able to evoke.
The kind, young installer took a few minutes to walk us through the myriad of changes and after each directive stopped to ask, “Any questions?”
I looked over at my 89 year old father-in-law who was looking back at me as though to say, “I hope to heaven you’re getting this, because I’m still looking for the ON button!”
At 66 I’m the young buck of the house and so of course I responded like every red-blooded male of my generation, “Yeah…sure, I got it”, while I secretly prayed against all odds that I could sort it out after the installer left.
I’m convinced there is simply no catching up for people like me who are two generations removed from the sweeping revolution brought on by digital control. Baby boomers are an incredible group of Americans, but from birth, we were never equipped to be connected digitally. We were born into a mechanical world. Digitally controlled devices hold unsolvable mysteries for us. Like Dorothy and her strange friends, we cower back as lights flash and noises emit; all the while praying someone will pull back the curtain, exposing the myth of the great and wireless Oz.
We kinda/sorta understand electricity as long as its magic is channeled through wires and analog mechanisms. But when they do that voodoo they do with computer chips—when micro impulses are mysteriously sucked into a vortex of thinking electrical diodes and mega-whatdayacallits—we’re left scratching our heads. It’s amazing how something as old as radio technology now interacts with my TV. I mean, come on, that’s an unholy alliance isn’t it…TV and radio working simultaneously? Is that even legal? I need a nap.
As the installer removed his protective booties and headed for his spaceship, his final statement caused me to shudder, “You have the most advanced TV system available!”
Marilyn, in a straight-faced female fashion suggested, maybe we should ask the young couple next door how to operate our new system. “Yeah…right” I snorted indignantly. “I’ll figure it out.”
When I got my smart phone, I called in the ‘big guns’: my grandchildren. But recent experience with their help has convinced me they use some form of telepathy. They don’t bother to look at the buttons or the device, but rather twist their wrists in secretive manners only to hand the demonic device back saying, “There, see?”
If you are 55 or older and have become fluent in digital technology, congratulations you breathe rarified air—enjoy your Dos Equis my friend. But, if like me, you remain stupefied by the endless and highly illogical learning curve that is digital, may I suggest you are not “lesser-than” but rather a proven representative of an important generation.
Fortunately, I can still access my favorite TV programs. However, I feel like I’m driving a Ferrari in a farm field; behind the wheel of unlimited performance with no idea how to get it out of first gear.
For many of us, our relationship with God is very similar. We know enough to peek through the curtains but are uncertain how to step into the full sunlight of His presence. We hear of others who bask in the confidence of God’s forgiveness and favor, but we ourselves feel constrained, even inhibited, about calling on Him for the same loving kindnesses.
I want to encourage you that you don’t need to know how God works to gain access to His promises. The Bible says God deeply desires for us to come to Him with our concerns and our petitions.
Philippians 4:6-7 declares, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Aren’t you glad you don’t have to fully understand how things work in order to effectively use them in your life? In just the same way, you don’t need to fully understand the complexities of God in order to gain access to those things for which our heart longs.