I had to snicker the other day, as my older brother told me that in his new job he was learning how to use a computer. He said he didn’t even know how to copy and paste until he took the job. I wasn’t laughing at him, but just the realization that something I take for granted is still new to some. You have to realize he is sixty-two, and he’s worked most of his life with his hands and as a line worker in a factory. There are many things that he can do, which I simply couldn’t do since I’ve been working with people, writing, and speaking for the past thirty years. I’ve spent a lot of time doing research, while he has spent time learning skills to run machinery and doing a lot of his own building and remodeling around his own home. I usually ask my dad, brother, or friends for advice on these things, because it’s not my everyday wheelhouse.
I realized years ago that I’ve become one of the technology geeks of my family, although I’m in my mid-fifties I often find myself advising others who have questions about using Office programs, websites, software, and even some devices. I was one of the older people in my last teaching job, and it surprised me how often others came to me with questions on using smart boards or programs we had available. I also became one of the test teachers for any new technology our IT manager was testing out.
I remember attending college in the late 1990’s. The college I attended knew that technology was starting to take off, so they required everyone to have one class that required computer use and to learn this new World Wide Web thing. I was driving an hour to school and an hour home, attending classes for my first ministry degree. Our worship class was chosen to use technology for research. We were told to go to the computer lab to research topics.
These early days of the Web were, as some of us remember well, rather slow. You could put in a topic, leave the room, and eat a sandwich before you returned. If you were lucky you might possibly reveal some good sources, but usually it was a lot of useless information to sort through. You would have to spend at least another two hours figuring out which sources were worthy of use to your research.
After two attempts and more than ten hours spent in the computer lab, I went to the professor. I explained that I was working at a church full time, and could find the same information in the library in an hour that I’d wasted ten hours on. He was generous and allowed me to skip the online search. I was so frustrated I told my wife the internet was a waste of time.
The following year I bought my first word processor. I’d had digital typewriter with spell check before, but now I could write, edit, save, and recall what I wrote in minutes instead of hours. Six months after we purchased this first HEWLET PACKARD computer, it stopped working. This time I looked at my wife and said, “I need to buy a new computer. I can’t write without it.” What a turn. First, saying the technology was useless, to saying I couldn’t survive.
Technology has been a necessity since that time. I’ve always had computers at home. I did resist getting smartphones in the early 2000’s. I had cell phones even in the 1990’s, but I couldn’t see going to the expense of the smartphone at the time. I remember stating to a RADIO SHACK worker when purchasing a cell phone in 2006 several times, “Does it make phone calls?” as he tried showing me all the new smartphones. Four years later, I had a SAMSUNG smartphone, and now I can’t see living without it. I had a friend who saw me using my smartphone four years ago to do my banking and business, and he decided it was time to finally ditch his smartphone.
Technology in Balance
Technology is a necessary part of life and work now. I can take it with me, even in the woods while hunting or sitting along a river fishing. I can research plants online, write article starts, check best hunting times, and submit articles. I’ve had meetings with others while one of us was out in a deer blind or hiking through the woods. There are cameras available to photograph animals, plants, ideas, and so much more. I sometimes wonder how we ever lived without technology.
Then I remember growing up. I played out in the woods. We had toy cars and balls and bats, but often we played with simple sticks, rocks, and whatever our hands and minds could come up with. Sometimes I like to walk into the woods and shut the phone off and simply enjoy the world. I’ve missed more than one good photo opportunity, but I find it refreshing to break from technology and return to the natural roots and rhythm. I find a lot of us who use technology daily enjoy this.
So, while I need technology for work. I also see the need for breaks too. Hopefully, you find the rhythm of life that works best for you too.
Blessings on the journey,
Dan Shipton
Shippy Woods 
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