Seated at my large desk in my small study, in the middle of an important Police Ethics Committee, online through Teams. I was watching and contributing with Teams on my laptop, and making notes on my iPad, constantly glancing between the two. At a crucial point my Teams view needed adjusting, but it wouldn’t respond. Argghh — I furiously tapped the screen but nothing happened. Stress didn’t help, panic set in, but I somehow survived the frozen screen and stayed with the discussion. When the session ended, and I was more relaxed, I realised what the problem was: my iPad has a touch screen, my laptop doesn’t! In the heat of a complex discussion, transferring attention from writing on the iPad I was tapping the the laptop screen instead of its touchpad.
We live in the digital age. Technology rules our lives, or should that be “ruins our lives”? Recently I tried to begin a lesson that was based on a PowerPoint presentation, with my laptop connected to a monitor — something I’ve done many times using the same laptop, the same monitor. This time it wouldn’t work. No sound, no picture. In a panic, I tried everything I could think of – checked settings, changed channels, changed cables. Nothing worked. This took time and my lesson was ruined. When everyone was gone, I searched for a solution. ChatGPT suggested there was a “handshake problem” between monitor and laptop and told me to switch the the laptop off and back on – in other words, reboot. I rebooted. Everything then worked perfectly just as it always had before.
Thing is, I used to be computer facilitator for UK Seminaries and Institutes. I made many phone calls and visits to sort out similar kinds of problem. I must have told struggling colleagues a hundred times to reboot, and nine times out of ten it worked.
We quickly forget simple solutions. I wonder how often I’ve forgotten to reboot or tapped the wrong screen in non-digital life. Actions I already knew, but in the pressure of the moment, taken by surprise I looked in the wrong direction and failed to fix things. How often did I need the help of heaven, but persisted in the groove of limited understanding. Too frequently I arrive at judgement without love, criticism instead of encouragement, accusation without understanding. I rely on limited intellect when a prayer or even fasting is called for. Tapping the wrong screen with people is so easy to do.
Jesus was aware of this. His teachings focus on the sinner, not the sin. His actions were driven by overwhelming love to build and bless. His answer so often invites us to reboot — He called it repentance. A change of mind, a reassessment of ourselves as well others is often the only way to move forward, and it’s hard to do without his help. Life becomes sticky, habits of thinking and acting a groove, and we find ourselves beating on the wrong screen, often without realising it, and wonder why it doesn’t work. But he offers help for everyone who asks. “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”, he said. Of course we are all sinners; we all need repentance. He also said “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. He offers to help us all to reboot, as often as we need to.
