Crystal clear but still nothing worth watching!

We ended up having to replace one of our television sets after the hurricane and that’s what I am writing about on this Thursday, April 9, 2009. I’m one of those who typically researches as much of the literature that’s available before I make a large purchase. We recently bought one of those large screen (52”) 1080p LCD television sets. The set it replaced was a fifteen year old heavy box type unit with a 31” screen. We had purchased it in the late 1980’s. My eldest son and I must have exchanged at least 100 emails over the past several months regarding all the technical data, pricing, and features available in the multitude of products being sold today. He keeps up with many different things and especially stays up to date on all things electronic.

After wailing and gnashing about this unit and that unit I finally settled on one and ordered it from Amazon via the internet. The technical detail looked right and the price was about $500 less than we could find it anywhere else, therefore, I pulled the trigger. My wife was at the house the morning they delivered it. It came with what they called a “White Glove” delivery option which means they unpacked it, hooked it up, and made sure it is working before they left. She said it may have taken them 15 minutes to do all of the above and then they were gone. We had seen our youngest son’s big screen and also our eldest son’s unit as well, therefore, we knew it was going to be very different than our old set. When I first saw the full screen illuminated in high definition (HD), I knew exactly how Jim Nabors felt when he expressed himself as Gomer on the Andy Griffith Show: “Shazam! Shazam! And one more Shazam for good measure!”

That first view was on a travel program shot with an HD wide-angle camera and it put a knot in my stomach as I actually felt like I was gliding above the mountains, ocean, and scenery unfolding before my eyes. Fifty two inches of crystal clear images to the extent you can read the fine print on someone’s program sitting up in the stands at a sporting event. Well, maybe not quite, but close. Okay, here’s the rub. The sporting events are spectacular and I was literally knocked down when I watched my first NASCAR race in HD. However, for the most part now we can clearly see the minute details of the programs we were not watching before. We can see the wrinkles on faces we didn’t care about and can tell who shaved and should have on the local newscasts. But, other than a few magnificent vistas here and there we are pretty much where we were before except now we can see a brighter picture of a twenty year old rerun of Password! Crystal clear but still nothing worth watching!

As we are thinking about the profound reality of the Resurrection of our Savior during this week leading up to the first day of the week when this event actually occurred, it is a good time for those of us who have accepted Christ as our Savior to consider the hope that is ours because of His conquering of death, hell and the grave as demonstrated in His Resurrection! I do hope you and yours will be celebrating this magnificent hope in services with other believers coming up this weekend. In closing, here’s my prayer for you as reflected in that wonderful prayer of blessing that Moses gave to Aaron to pronounce upon God’s people as found in Numbers Chapter 6: 24)“The LORD bless you and keep you; 25)The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26)The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” I pray this for you and yours today. Amen. ……More later.