My granddaughter has just become a teenager. She lives in a completely different world to the one I inhabited back in my adolescence. If she is spending time with me and becomes fed up (!) then she can sneakily send a text message to her mum to come and fetch her; I would have had at my fingertips…telepathy. I learned to drive in my late teens, on roads which were far quieter than modern ones; indeed the whole pace of life was slower and, I think, we had to be better organised. Homework which needed research entailed a trip to the town library; now it involves tapping a few words into a laptop, tablet or mobile phone. All homework was marked by a teacher, who stood at the front of the classroom and flung books around with scathing comments. Nowadays, much work is submitted online and if a teacher flung my granddaughter’s exercise book at her, a snowstorm of loose papers would appear. What we experienced as “scathing comments” would nowadays be considered bullying.
But what we perhaps need to ask, instead of reminiscing, is whether the world is a better place. The French have a proverb: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Another way of saying this could be: the new sheriff arrived in town, but crime has remained the same. No matter, pessimistically, that there are new people and new promises, the same old problems still exist.
This is, however, rather bleak. As Christians we believe that change is possible, not because we are inherently able to change but because we know we cannot do it alone and ask for help: God’s help. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the key to change in each one of us and through us, as renewed beings, the world will be changed. We know from Scripture that God never changes: For I the LORD do not change (Malachi 3:6 NRSV) and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever (Hebrews 13:8 NRSV).
Technology can be scary but can be used as a force for good. Did your church put on Zoom services during the lockdowns? Were pastoral visits done by Skype or WhatsApp? Do you send group text messages with prayer requests? Those of us who are older find it difficult to adapt but this is the world we live in and to be effective Christians we may need to embrace the scary things that the computer world throws at us. The world we live in is here and the time we live in is now – both belong to God. We just need to keep praying!
And remembering Psalm 69:13:
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me. (NRSV)
As we age, Lord, reminiscing is inevitable but please remind us that your Kairos, your special moment is not just locked into the past but that you will find the acceptable time to change us and through us to change the world around us. Keep us ever open to your prompting. Amen.
Elaine Kinchin
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