It's
Wednesday, July 16, 2014, and I bring you greetings from my little slice of the Blogosphere to wherever you happen to be connecting from. Most still catch up with me on their personal computer but a growing number grab it from their smart phone or their mobile tablet. During the preaching service at our local fellowship they dim the lights in the audience. I'm not exactly sure why. It may be to enhance the mood or perhaps as a help to the sleepy. At any rate, standing in the back, I see little screens lighted up throughout the room. We can only hope they are all accessing their Bible app. Right? Folks have become fanatical at their texting. Since it doesn't require them to actually talk on their phone it has become common practice for people to text even when they are in meetings. Even when they lead a meeting. Even when other people at the meeting are dealing with salient points that need to be considered. I'm not sure where all of this is going but I do know that it has forever changed the process of face to face communication. Because even when folks are face to face, the texting continues. Some lament the demise of personal handwritten letters, but I actually think that this new phenomenon of being absent by being present may be an even greater loss. But, that's just my observation in passing.
Thinking back to my early teen days I know we talked differently than kids do today. Someone who had a really nice looking car but it wouldn't run very well was said to be: All show and no go. Something said to be really baaaad was typically really great. We did a lot of cruising which meant driving up and down a particular roadway hoping to call attention to ourselves. Glasspacks were mufflers that gave the pipes on your ride a melodious sound. In order to stay connected in the telling of our story we often used the phrase, meanwhile back at the ranch, to keep everyone on the same page. Those who couldn't handle the requirements of being hip like ourselves were called squares. We thought ourselves to be cool if we had our shades on, you know, sunglasses. When we wanted to hear all about it we asked for them to lay it on me. The local constabulary, police, fuzz, they were the ones with the gum ball machine on top of their vehicles. If you wanted to make sure someone understood you asked with a simple: You dig? Today I have to Google a lot of those abbreviated terms people send forth and back using social media just to figure out what they are talking about. That's okay because I'm pretty sure most of them would have trouble fetching us a church key to open our bottled soft drink. Right?
I am more aware everyday of the fact that my anecdotes are frozen from a different era, at least that's my reading based on the blank stares I get when I attempt to communicate with younger folks today. Our Bible study class on Wednesday evenings enjoy singing some of the songs we all grew up with. The writers had a message to portray and many of them challenged the singer to grasp the spiritual metaphor being used. These are like a foreign language to kids today. We heard a funny lady making a joke about this the other day. She said that when trouble comes into her life, the message of the old hymns like "He walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am His own...", helps minister to her. She wondered out loud about this younger generation because their context, based on the songs used today, would be The Rock The Rock The Rock The Rock. Maybe they could be taught Rock of Ages. Maybe not. And, may I add, if they get everything included in Him being the Rock, well, I suppose that will git er done! Now. We do have some business we need to get on with. It is this day that God has given to us. Remember to thank Him for it and use it to serve Him by serving others.
Amen. ....More later.
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