Won't You Be My Neighbor 143

Trying to blog on my old iPad. Practically cuneiform. It is a great deal lighter than my even older laptop that is hooked up to peripherals like an elderly patient to oxygen and IV. I do tend to ride out my technology like a sled until I run out of functional snow. All the laptop peripherals are old so I am concerned that if I buy a new laptop, I have to go all in and buy new everything. I am first world cheap.

I abandoned the iPad. Wasn't connecting to the wifi consistently creating a delay in my screen text from the keyboard. Back on the battleship laptop versus the iPad raft. Laptop is heavier than a cinder-block. I have shared with our class at school how technology has changed everything. My generation was in comparison information-starved. We went to rock concerts, we couldn't watch videos. We looked up articles in the stacks, not on Google. I got lost a lot directionally and  GPS allowed me to travel without fear of not being able to figure out where to turn. Finding something in a store often resulted in frustration.

So, when the old geezers get reminiscent about the old days, best to recall that it wasn't all great. Technology is both a plus and a minus. Depending on what a person does online determines its overall value in terms of accounting.

While I am on the topic of technology, I watched the documentary about Fred Rogers yesterday morning. The Netflix DVD had been laying around for weeks and the cheap gene kicked in and forced me to watch it Saturday early. Mr. Rogers saw great potential and risk in television and endeavored to make the medium hopeful and healing versus a venue for violence and inanity for children. He, by the test of time succeeded.

However, he had his critics. They said he gave way to the "everyone gets a trophy" generations. That he was corny and naive. Yet, he grappled with many difficult issues on his show. Death, Divorce, Assassination, Racism, etc. What his opponents zero on is the "I like you the way you are vibe" feeling, that it ushered in the entitlement age. I am special just because I am.  Rogers was animated by his Christian beliefs and perhaps was too round around the edges. Yet, better to be too gracious than not enough. Too kind rather than too harsh. Loving instead of hard. Jesus is surprisingly demanding of his followers but incredibly gracious to the forlorn.   

As Christians, it is critical that we keep two premises before us: Humanity is both sinful and savable. We are broken but we can be mended. Redemption is costly but it has been purchased by Christ. As a final note, Rogers loved the numbers 143. It was translated to I (one) LOVE (4) YOU (3). That is the number for my home address, really the only home I have had since being 12 years old.

I think God wanted to remind me that He loves me. That is hard for me to hear. It makes me feel vulnerable and weak, something that I hide steadfastly. I think Mr. Rogers made people uncomfortable because....he loved them.