Driven by Things?

A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

When someone points out a "Geek" to you, the image comes to mind of a person so driven by computers or gadgetry that nobody understands him or her. The word "Geek" is a slang term, noting individuals as "One who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectual, electronics, etc." In other words, someone who has nothing else on the brain except technology. And there are plenty of those. Look at any technical manual written for computer programs, and you'll find the description of what you are trying to learn is so sophisticated that it goes way over our heads. I may be a computer fanatic, at times, but there are other things in my life besides electronics. At least I recognize that these electronic things come ultimately from God. He gave us the intelligence and know-how to invent this gadget, this computer, this program, and the knowledge to put it all together. 

Physicians are mostly wonderful people, even though they are all too expensive, they seek to "do no harm". But then I seek to do no harm either and I'm not a physician. Those who are, and who strive to be the best, will be able to acknowledge that all that knowledge they possess came from a higher power. There is only ONE GOD, but we know him in different ways. He causes all things to happen, and continues to do so. When the Bible says that most of us live seventy years, and those who are strong eighty, one gets the impression that we are not finite and, in fact, our lives are rather short in comparison with God and the scope of his creation. He made all things, even the computers.

Some people are fanatical about cars. This can be good, because the inventors of new models and gadgets that make cars fun to drive, need a lot of dedication to bring their product out. I saw a rather futuristic show on television about the car of the future, essentially a robot that "thinks". Artificial Intelligence has been around for some time - computers that seem to think. They don't really, but they've been programmed to make it appear that they think. This is where cars make a phone call to the place where you are scheduled to meet, when it calculates that there is no way you can arrive on time. When we get to the point that cars initiate phone calls, that's when we are really driven by things! That's when we stop thinking and let robots solve our life and simple problems. Our instinct for ownership of things is a good instinct, a part of human nature God has made, but let's not get carried away. If all things are done for us by mechanical monsters we won't get any exercise at all anymore.

Computers are enormously handy things for the accumulation of knowledge. When someone talks to me about a condition or disease, I will soon check on the computer what it is all about. There are many excellent medical websites that are a big help in this area. On the other hand, let's not stop relying on our doctors and health practitioners. The "human factor" should always remain a part of the healing process. And similarly, let us acknowledge that God is the ultimate healer.

I do not like the trend this country, or even this world, is heading into, which removes God from the picture. First it was the Ten Commandments that were under fire. Then our government sought to remove other references to God from the public arena. There was an editorial 15+ years ago about our Nation's motto "In God we Trust." Since January 18, 1837, an Act of Congress prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. It would be a shame if this beautiful motto would disappear for good, yet there are people trying to eliminate it. 

One of the unintended negatives about computers is the breakup of the family gathering. Family members sharing a household are on their computers instead of talking to each other. The convivial family image pictured on the show "The Waltons" is gone forever. This is being mitigated to some extent by the social networks, none of which interest me in the slightest since this website keeps me very busy. But for those who aren't geeks or webmasters, there is some benefit to using these services. Especially in business, sending short messages is important, rather than lengthy tomes (I tend to overdo it with long e-mails sometimes) and these networks help in this regard.

A family that does not stay together is one that generally also does not pray together, and therein lies the danger. As constant users of computers it is easy to lose personal ("face to face") touch with people. When have you last talked/prayed to God? God loves us to pay attention to Him, in person. It is said that He is like us in all things except sin, and since we love to communicate, so does He!

When I write these reflections on the computer, I cannot be listening to music at the same time. Perhaps this is an age-related thing, but when talking about God's love, I need silence around me so I can think. It is only in silence that we hear Him speak to us. There are so many distractions these days, endless commercials not three or four times an hour, but more like every 6 minutes. Sometimes I watch a movie and when it ends I cannot recall how it began!

Excessive ownership can get out of hand, when we covet other people's possessions. This behavior can lead to embezzlement of funds, fraud, theft, etc. The inordinate lust for temporal goods is insidious. It does us a lot of harm. Whenever the devil is given the opportunity to work on us without abatement, then we are lost. Don't allow that to happen, please.

Have a healthy respect for mechanical things, and at the same time, place them into perspective with the rest of your life. Don't allow yourself to be driven by things, instead let yourself be driven by God.

God bless you!

Fred Schaeffer, OFS

2010, rev. July 3, 2020

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