Today is the last day of 2013. I vividly remember the frenzy that surrounded the last day of 1999. I remember the doomsday adherents who had avidly read everything they could lay their hands on about the chaos that would cause the world to spin out of control as the clocks ticked over from 23.59 to 00:00, and from 31.12.99 to 01.01.00. Until then, I thought I was the only person who didn't trust computers.
Now I discovered an entire sub-culture convinced that it had been a big mistake to change from writing out airline tickets in ballpoint, with carbon copies in various colours, all of which were filed safely in cardboard files inside metal filing cabinets. Ballpoint pens, handwritten invoices, hand-held calculators, and fax machines, had never brought the world to the brink of utter destruction, the way computers had done. I think it was at this point I decided to move my brain into the twenty-first century, rather than get caught up in the craziness of the current phobia.
I remember sermons being preached in some churches throughout 1999. Congregations were warned to stockpile perishables, water, batteries, flashlights, matches, Cadac gas cookers, and mountains of tinned food. They were also urged to get copies of every imaginable document, from birth certificates and marriage certificates to house bonds, car ownership documentation, electricity and water accounts, passports, and anything that had previously been stored on computer, but which would be lost forever as computers all over the world crashed. Apocalyptic scenes of rioting, anarchy, and general mayhem were anticipated. Those of us who were simply excited to party in a new century were viewed with alarm. A few friends offered to house and feed Christie and me when the world as we knew it disintegrated around us.
I even bought and read a novel, called, I think, "FLEE THE DARKNESS." It was a good read, in the same vein as the Left Behind series. I do wonder, however, what the author did with all the unsold hardback copies of his book on the first January 2000, when he woke up to find the world intact, and the only people fleeing were those who had imbibed more than they could handle. I can read and enjoy the Left Behind books as a type of Christian science fiction, because I do not subscribe to a pre-tribulation rapture doctrine any more than I subscribed to the notion that the world would collapse as midnight ushered in a new century. Ah, but that was another issue. There were endless debates about this. One faction declared that the new century ACTUALLY began on 1 January 2001. I suspect they were right. They had the Maths to back up their argument. But I sided with the other faction, the ones who were up for a party to end all parties the minute we could write 20 instead of 19 as our date.
It is incredible to think that we are now entering the fifteenth new year since that time of worldwide insanity. I know you don't believe that it is the fifteenth year. You think it is the fourteenth, and can hardly wait to tell me I made a mistake. Go ahead and count on your fingers. I did so twice to make sure. So much has happened in the past fourteen years that the world is completely different in many respects, but still the same in others. What is still the same? Well, girls still have PMS. If you don't know what that is, find someone close to you, and ask them to pat you vigorously on the back. Congratulations! For the rest, I saw a very funny thing on Pinterest the other night. Yes, my love affair with Pinterest continues unabated. I am now, I am convinced, the only pinner who has had FOUR official warnings that I have exceeded my limit on the number of pins I have pinned, and that I am in danger of being declared a spammer. Oh, the shame of it. Fortunately I don't have an account under my real name. Getting back to Pinterest and the funny pin. It said, "When guys judge girls who are PMSing, I'm like, NO UTERUS, NO OPINION."
So PMS is the same. So are hot flushes. Again, if you don't know what that is, well done, and long may your ignorance continue. What else is unchanged? People who CAN'T sing being under the illusion that they will be the next American, UK, or South African Idol. Braais are unchanged. For non-South African readers, barbecues. The men still gather around the fire with large chunks of meat, while the women make totally unnecessary salads. Two year olds still have tantrums. Golfers still use every available public holiday, Saturday morning, and the occasional sick day, to play eighteen holes, or on sick days, to sneak out to the driving range.
What has changed? We now go out to lunch with a group of friends, and our phones. We spend our time chatting on text to absent friends, while ignoring present company. Oh, I made a mistake. Occasionally we tell our friends to bunch together, smile, and we take a photo. We then also photograph our salad or cappuccino, and post it on Instagram together with a photo of our friends, so everyone can see what a fun time we had. Pre-2000, lunch with friends meant that we ate, chatted, and left, having enjoyed eye to eye contact. What a novel concept. Who is with me in trying to reintroduce phone-free lunch or coffee dates?
What else has changed? The age of technology has arrived in earnest. This is something to be applauded, not decried. Grandparents and parents are able to speak to their offspring on Skype or FaceTime, even if they live on the other side of the world. Apple is not only a fruit. It is a wondrous creation, enabling addicts like me to learn how to use technology, instead of cowering and whimpering at the sight of a computer. I can type in your address, and Google Earth will show me exactly where you live and what your house looks like.
Oh dear. I have asked a question which I cannot answer. What has changed? Everything has changed except a few things. Human nature hasn't changed. The devil hasn't changed. As I write this blog, my heart is broken, because last night a dear friend, whose wedding I was privileged to conduct, was shot through the heart and died. Today I went to try and comfort his wife and seven year old daughter. They heard the shot that killed him. They saw his body lying where he fell. One minute he was alive. The next minute he was dead. Life and death have not changed. Life remains fragile, a gift from God to be treasured and not to be wasted. Thankfully God hasn't changed either. He is still the same. He says, "I am The Lord. I do not change." Of Jesus, the bible says, "Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and today, and forever." He is still the Father who loved us so much that He sent His only Son, so that ANYONE who believes in Him WILL NOT PERISH, but will have everlasting life. We will all die, but we need not perish. It is so simple to believe, that it remains the only requirement for us to become a child of God.
My prayer for 2014 is that God will become more real, more accessible, and more necessary to each of us. I also pray that we would love people as He does, and use our lives to touch and comfort those who don't yet know Him. And may those precious souls come to know Him as their Father too. May you have a safe, prosperous, peaceful, and blessed 2014. God bless you. Fiona
Now I discovered an entire sub-culture convinced that it had been a big mistake to change from writing out airline tickets in ballpoint, with carbon copies in various colours, all of which were filed safely in cardboard files inside metal filing cabinets. Ballpoint pens, handwritten invoices, hand-held calculators, and fax machines, had never brought the world to the brink of utter destruction, the way computers had done. I think it was at this point I decided to move my brain into the twenty-first century, rather than get caught up in the craziness of the current phobia.
I remember sermons being preached in some churches throughout 1999. Congregations were warned to stockpile perishables, water, batteries, flashlights, matches, Cadac gas cookers, and mountains of tinned food. They were also urged to get copies of every imaginable document, from birth certificates and marriage certificates to house bonds, car ownership documentation, electricity and water accounts, passports, and anything that had previously been stored on computer, but which would be lost forever as computers all over the world crashed. Apocalyptic scenes of rioting, anarchy, and general mayhem were anticipated. Those of us who were simply excited to party in a new century were viewed with alarm. A few friends offered to house and feed Christie and me when the world as we knew it disintegrated around us.
I even bought and read a novel, called, I think, "FLEE THE DARKNESS." It was a good read, in the same vein as the Left Behind series. I do wonder, however, what the author did with all the unsold hardback copies of his book on the first January 2000, when he woke up to find the world intact, and the only people fleeing were those who had imbibed more than they could handle. I can read and enjoy the Left Behind books as a type of Christian science fiction, because I do not subscribe to a pre-tribulation rapture doctrine any more than I subscribed to the notion that the world would collapse as midnight ushered in a new century. Ah, but that was another issue. There were endless debates about this. One faction declared that the new century ACTUALLY began on 1 January 2001. I suspect they were right. They had the Maths to back up their argument. But I sided with the other faction, the ones who were up for a party to end all parties the minute we could write 20 instead of 19 as our date.
It is incredible to think that we are now entering the fifteenth new year since that time of worldwide insanity. I know you don't believe that it is the fifteenth year. You think it is the fourteenth, and can hardly wait to tell me I made a mistake. Go ahead and count on your fingers. I did so twice to make sure. So much has happened in the past fourteen years that the world is completely different in many respects, but still the same in others. What is still the same? Well, girls still have PMS. If you don't know what that is, find someone close to you, and ask them to pat you vigorously on the back. Congratulations! For the rest, I saw a very funny thing on Pinterest the other night. Yes, my love affair with Pinterest continues unabated. I am now, I am convinced, the only pinner who has had FOUR official warnings that I have exceeded my limit on the number of pins I have pinned, and that I am in danger of being declared a spammer. Oh, the shame of it. Fortunately I don't have an account under my real name. Getting back to Pinterest and the funny pin. It said, "When guys judge girls who are PMSing, I'm like, NO UTERUS, NO OPINION."
So PMS is the same. So are hot flushes. Again, if you don't know what that is, well done, and long may your ignorance continue. What else is unchanged? People who CAN'T sing being under the illusion that they will be the next American, UK, or South African Idol. Braais are unchanged. For non-South African readers, barbecues. The men still gather around the fire with large chunks of meat, while the women make totally unnecessary salads. Two year olds still have tantrums. Golfers still use every available public holiday, Saturday morning, and the occasional sick day, to play eighteen holes, or on sick days, to sneak out to the driving range.
What has changed? We now go out to lunch with a group of friends, and our phones. We spend our time chatting on text to absent friends, while ignoring present company. Oh, I made a mistake. Occasionally we tell our friends to bunch together, smile, and we take a photo. We then also photograph our salad or cappuccino, and post it on Instagram together with a photo of our friends, so everyone can see what a fun time we had. Pre-2000, lunch with friends meant that we ate, chatted, and left, having enjoyed eye to eye contact. What a novel concept. Who is with me in trying to reintroduce phone-free lunch or coffee dates?
What else has changed? The age of technology has arrived in earnest. This is something to be applauded, not decried. Grandparents and parents are able to speak to their offspring on Skype or FaceTime, even if they live on the other side of the world. Apple is not only a fruit. It is a wondrous creation, enabling addicts like me to learn how to use technology, instead of cowering and whimpering at the sight of a computer. I can type in your address, and Google Earth will show me exactly where you live and what your house looks like.
Oh dear. I have asked a question which I cannot answer. What has changed? Everything has changed except a few things. Human nature hasn't changed. The devil hasn't changed. As I write this blog, my heart is broken, because last night a dear friend, whose wedding I was privileged to conduct, was shot through the heart and died. Today I went to try and comfort his wife and seven year old daughter. They heard the shot that killed him. They saw his body lying where he fell. One minute he was alive. The next minute he was dead. Life and death have not changed. Life remains fragile, a gift from God to be treasured and not to be wasted. Thankfully God hasn't changed either. He is still the same. He says, "I am The Lord. I do not change." Of Jesus, the bible says, "Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and today, and forever." He is still the Father who loved us so much that He sent His only Son, so that ANYONE who believes in Him WILL NOT PERISH, but will have everlasting life. We will all die, but we need not perish. It is so simple to believe, that it remains the only requirement for us to become a child of God.
My prayer for 2014 is that God will become more real, more accessible, and more necessary to each of us. I also pray that we would love people as He does, and use our lives to touch and comfort those who don't yet know Him. And may those precious souls come to know Him as their Father too. May you have a safe, prosperous, peaceful, and blessed 2014. God bless you. Fiona
This beautiful!
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