Madison320web

TheTime COIN
Camille Anding
Martha turned off the evening news.
It was perplexing - just another
reminder that she was living in a
world of electronic wizardry,
creating a world of obsoletes.
and tongues. She smiled as she recalled her own
text training in learning standardized abbreviations
The small handheld device that she kept within
reach held the answer to any question she might ask.
Yesterday she had questioned Mr. Google about
converting liters to ounces, places to purchase her
favorite tea, the weekly grocery ad, and the latest
country attacked by the coronavirus.
Such technology caused her to marvel at the minds
of ancient theologians like Matthew Henry [1662-1714]
who covered the Bible, giving deep and divine insight
in his 2,064-page commentary. The marvel: there were
no electronic devices with Bible references to cover
every known topic. His “device” was his mind, fixed on
the treasures in God’s Word. His hunger for truth fueled
his mind’s “App.”
A familiar beep broke Martha’s train of thought.
Her well-trained reflexes reached for her iPhone
to read the message. It was a text from a friend.
Her previous thought pattern
resumed as she wondered what
happened to conversations, the
fingerless kind employing ears
and appropriate emojis.
Martha honestly had no viable solutions. Even
though she scolded her family members for using
their iPhones for entertaining their young, she knew
her warnings were passed over just like her set of
encyclopedias. The electronic gadgets WERE safety
nets and a needed means of communication. Or were
they? Who or what had programmed their dependency
into our lives?
There was a time when Martha and her family left
their landlines for vacation with only their suitcases and
a road map. And they found their way going and coming!
Conversations were audible, using names instead of
beeps. Family members looked at each other instead
of handheld screens.
Oh, Martha wasn’t too naive to understand how
totally enmeshed the iPhone is in the business world
and the conveniences afforded by such modern
wizardry. But she still sensed a heaviness in her spirit.
Are our real enjoyments, safety, and security entrusted
to our devices or our Creator? It was a difficult
question for Martha to answer. ●
58 • MARCH 2020