Staying connected

The ABC’s of knowing God better: the letter “V”
                                                                                                 
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. – Genesis 2:7 NKJV
      
“I am the vine, you are the branches. . . Without Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5 NKJV
      
I learned to type on a big, black, heavy, manual typewriter. I composed many a poem on that old

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machine, using half-sheets of erasable-bond typing paper and saving them in a handkerchief box.
      
When I got to college, my roommate let me use her portable electric typewriter—and I fell in love! With just a slight touch of the keys, sentences zoomed across the page. (Although I did have to learn not to press so hard.) I begged for one for Christmas, and Santa obliged. I used that machine for over 25 years, typing tests, quizzes, and worksheets on mimeograph masters in my teaching days.
      
About the time I began writing seriously and submitting my articles to magazines, I learned of something called a word processor. It was like an electric typewriter with a screen (monitor), and I didn’t have to use erasable bond typing paper or whiteout or scratch my mistakes off the page with a razor blade. All I had to do was use the “delete” key. My work was saved to a floppy disk (remember those?), as the word processor had no internal memory to store documents.
      
I was happy with my Brother word processor, even when I began using a computer at the newsroom where I worked as a feature writer. Although I saw the advantages, I resisted the idea of getting a personal computer. After all, my word processor never crashed.
      
Eventually, though, I caved in. Why had I waited so long? My word processor was relegated to the attic beside the electric typewriter.
      
I resisted, however, connecting to the Internet—too much risk, I thought, after hearing stories about viruses and hackers and other such boogeymen of the information superhighway.
      
It took me a while to cave in on that one. But cave in I did, going from a dialup connection through my phone line to a satellite dish on the side of my house.
      
Progress.
      
From an ugly old manual typewriter to a sleek laptop. From limited telephone communication to being able to connect with anyone on the planet at any time. From boxes and file cabinet drawers stuffed with file folders and floppy disks to practically unlimited online storage space in what’s called a “cloud.”
      
But just let the electricity go out, and we’re stymied. We can use our laptops, portable devices and cell phones until the batteries die, then we’re helpless until the power comes back on. To get anything accomplished these days, it seems, it’s vital to remain connected to an electric power source.
      
“I am the vine, you are the branches,” Jesus said. “He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
      
Just as I wouldn’t want to go back to the days I used a cumbersome manual typewriter, I don’t want to go back to the time I lived my life without Jesus, my personal power source that never goes out.
      
      
Remind me, Lord, to stay plugged in—that in You “I live and move and have my being” (Acts 17:28). Amen.

 

Special-Tea: Read John 15:1–15