“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful…” (1 Cor. 13:1-5 ESV)

After over a decade of faithful service my old desktop computer finally died.  It simply wouldn’t start.  With no computer repair places open my daughter talked me into purchasing a new laptop to replace it.  What followed was two days of pure frustration.  It was like going from driving an old Model T Ford to flying the Space Shuttle.

After my daughter set it up I looked for the old e-mail program I used to use only to find that it wasn’t on this model.  When I tried to download the older version again it wouldn’t work.  I spent the next day talking to 4 different technical assistance people to no avail.  I also had a terrible time downloading my old word processing program again.  Then there was the  difficulties of transferring all of my old stories that I had saved on a jump drive.  The laptop computer’s fancy new programs were an icon minefield that I had to navigate.  Each time I accidentally touched one of them it changed everything on my screen and I had to work hard to figure out how to change them back.  In the end I had screwed up the settings so badly that I asked my daughter to do a reset so we could start over.  Finally after two days I think we have set up the new computer to do the few simple things I need it to do so I can ignore the thousand other functions that I have no use for.  I only hope it will work as long and faithfully as my old desktop did.

One thing I did learn from all of this is that when it comes to computers and life I want to keep things simple, simple, simple.  I don’t want to wake up in the morning and rush to my devices.  Instead I want to pet my dogs, take them outside, and watch the sun slowly rise over the mountains here.  I want to spend my time hugging my children, talking to my friends, and praying to God.  I want to feel the heartbeat of nature and the Love of our Heavenly Father.  I want to live my days slowly, deliberately, and sacredly.  I want to spend my time and my talents making this world work better not faster.

Joseph J. Mazzella