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"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
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