I’m in a love/hate relationship. To break free is no option. I’m too dependent. I have my high moments but then, suddenly it comes crashing down. Sometimes I wonder, who is the slave and who is the master? It draws me to itself and I see it flicker. Was that a smile? I grimace.
The computer with its WWW (or whatever) is supposed to be at my beck and call. Why then do I sometimes feel as though I am its toy? Things don’t always go smoothly when I google, email, search, post or browse. It is so frustrating. Frustration’s tears whelm up when the most simple of procedure turns into a nightmare. I’m tortured! Blood pressure rises and fingers twitch. Suddenly, the machine co-operates. Then a weather storm or a power failure hits. O joy! O rapture! Why do I have a passion to write?
That’s the hate side of the relationship.
Now for the Love side.
As I write and save there is a real sense of freedom. I can ‘cut and paste’ or add and maybe delete without a whole rewrite of a page. When the article is complete I can schedule it (hopefully, correctly). After all that I can ‘gate crash’ friend and stranger’s Face Book announcing, “It’s done!”
However, what I really love about my computer and its WWW is how it affords me a global arena. I know I’m but a grain of sand in the beach of WWW users. But, I stand amazed and humbled by the statistics from so many different countries indicating someone has looked at some aspect of my blog. I’ve gasped at the fact that something I wrote a few years ago comes up in the records as being viewed.
Cyber-space is filled with and littered by so much material. It will range from the putrid and pathetic to the glorious and God honouring. This is why I love my computer. (Or one of the reasons). I can penetrate Cyber-space to the best of my ability and give it some G and G (God and glory). This is the arena open to us as Christians who write in whatever genre and set it free over the Web. I realise we are but grains of sands but by God’s grace and power, we become a handful. Who knows what God will do with a grain of sand and He drops its contents into the heart and mind of a ‘surfer of the Net? Only God knows the result.
The fact that He might choose some words of mine is a strong motivation to write. So maybe you can understand why this grey-haired old fellow keeps writing, even when his computer is being rebellious. I have one major regret. When I secured my computer I had done some intensive training on how to handle ‘the beast’ more skilfully. Out in Cyber-space is a mission field. It is in desperate need for God’s grace and Gospel. As Christian writers let us go and penetrate it for Christ’s glory and the blessing of any who read our posts. I’m but a grain of sand but I’m motivated to spread it in Cyber-space. My unsung and unconscious theme could well be ‘Watch out world God has this grain of sand in His hand to drop into your life.’ The Lord bless all you fellow ‘grains of sand!’
Hah! It gets to you doesn't it Ray? It's great to remember though,( frustration aside,) those tap-tap-tappings on the keys when seen on the printed page can be such a blessing to more folk that you would ever hear about.
ReplyDeleteHi Ray, Thanks for your post. While computers can be frustrating, I can't imagine having to type (with corrector ribbon) everything I write and the opportunities for touching the lives of so many people around the world and at home is huge. I'm sure you have touched many people lives.
ReplyDeleteBTW my husband and I are part-time with Campus Crusade for Christ Australia (CCCA) in the area of internet missions - so I really get your vision. If your interested, our website is http://internetmissions.org/
Ray, I can understand your frustrations! And also your joys :) Computers are amazing things, and to be quite honest, I'm glad I started writing once they were commonplace. I can't imagine editing and rewriting without one - it would be a nightmare. As far as the web goes, I totally agree. We just never know who will be touched by God as a result of our words in cyber-space. All adds to the mystery. Thanks for your post.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Andrea! I can't imagine the nightmare it must be to write without the delete button. :)
ReplyDeleteBut I hear you, Ray. It's most frustrating to me when a page won't load fast enough. But I think that's how we've become these days. If we press a button, we don't want to wait. At all. Like the kids at the lights pressing for WALK twenty times before the lights change.
But I'm grateful. How else does an author find their audience without a little WWW?
Blessings, :)
Thanks Rita, Jeanette, Andrea and Dorothy for assuring me I wasn't alone in this Computer Love/Hate relationship. Actually, I'm in love with it at the moment as it helped me (with my Mary's wisdom) solve some writing issues. I live in hope that when the morning comes the computer will still be kind to me. Whatever its mood, I am privileged to be a grain of sand with all of you and others that our Lord can use to scatter His grace around our sphere of influence.
ReplyDeleteRay remembers only too well those days I hand wrote my first manuscript. He especially remembers those many hours this two finger typist then typed it on a small portable typewriter - yeah, and moaned quite a lot with frustration. Oh, the amount of white-out stuff I had to use, the number of whole pages I had to re-type. I was so blessed having a darling sister-in-law who was an excellent speed typist and typed my final draft good enough to start submitting to publishers - many publishers. While I do get cross - as I did even today with Microsoft Outlook - I sure do love the computer and thank God for His timing way back and provisions to be able to afford that very first 40kb hard drive PC.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the ease with which I can research subjects I have no idea about but want to use, especially when the page loads quickly, eh Dorothy?
ReplyDeleteRay, great post! It's hard to imagine life without computers and the internet. Somehow we survived... lol. Mary, I remember paying one of my mum's friends to type up my major research project for my HSC assessment. The following year I bought my first computer for uni, and I loved using a word processor to write essays. So much easier than writing longhand or using a typewriter :)
ReplyDeleteAh the memories! You writers of today have life so easy from the pen and paper days, especially if one's spelling is nort quiet rite. I looked up Jeanette's Campus Crusade link and saw their emphasis in, with and through the computer. So, whatever genre we write in let's shed some Godly light into someone's dark world.
ReplyDeleteI wrote out in longhand all my assignments for my medical degree (6 years of study) so remember it well - especially putting the footnotes in. I wrote out my first novel on bits of paper and rewote it out in 'final draft' so a friend could type it for me. I was still writing out assignments at the beginning of my Arts degree but took some classes in touch typing. And then we got a computer - and Word Perfect (this was before windows) - and I never looked back.
DeleteOf course Campus has a wide variety of ministries with youth, Uni students, families, strengthening marriages, in the creative arts, with medical missions and athletes. My husband's calling has been to internet ministry - which has a strong emphasis on the computer though his current project revolves around mobile technology. Each new technology provides challenges and great opportunities to spread the good news of God's great love in Christ - the roman road, the printing press, the world wide web, the smart phone - and the abilities and calling he gives us. So yes, lets write to shed some of God's light in someone's world. Amen to that.
The power of perseverance in the early days must have paid off. However, my wife, Mary, would agree with you as she did similar things at the beginning of her writing 'career.' I contacted Campus Crusdae via website/email. re the ministry. The Lord bless you and minister through you and your husband.
DeleteThanks Ray :)
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