01 Jan Drop the Gun! You Are Killing Us – Jan 12

By Firman Rianto

Growing up in pre-Y2K when there was a career boom in technology during my teens life, I was easily caught by the whirlwind of information technology to develop the representation of 1’s and 0’s, known as binary numeral system. I hang out with my uncles who guide me toward computer programming and, of course, computer gaming, much more than I hang out with my parents. It seemed like my parents did not understand me as I was talking in binaries. And it looks like… I am still an alien to some.

I always got a puzzled look when I wore a T-shirt that says, “There is no place like 127.0.0.1.” If you were caught in that whirlwind, you would understand its translation for the normal people; “There is no place like home.”

Now, let me point you to the centre of the whirlwind. If you were among the many that will judge me as a nerd if you see me in that T-shirt, well unfortunately, like it or not, the whirlwind is taking over the whole world. So you might as well read this article or risking yourself to be an alien in a very short amount of time.

I tell you plainly at start, this technology and computing world knows no boundary. It is insatiable. It does not like the 9-to-5 boundary, it is around us 24 by 7 with every activity that we do. Some for the good of mankind, most for the worse. Since I have a word limit of only 2500 characters to write this article, please pardon me to focus on one of its worst offence: degradation of relationships.

I tell you plainly at start, this technology and computing world knows no boundary. It is insatiable. It does not like the 9-to-5 boundary, it is around us 24 by 7 with every activity that we do. Some for the good of mankind, most for the worse. Since I have a word limit of only 2500 characters to write this article, please pardon me to focus on one of its worst offence: degradation of relationships.

I want to share with you a real life story from the paraphrase of Matthew 8 by Eugene Peterson; Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.” Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. How do you think the leper was made heal? By his faith in believing that Jesus wants to heal him as Jesus answered, “I want to. Be clean.”

A deeper question, how do you think the leper was made whole? When Jesus reached out and touched him.

Stop! And rewind that sentence.

When Jesus reached out and touched him.

When was the last time you compliment someone through words spoken by your lips and eyes sharing look rather than a message on their mobile devices?

When was the last time you have a great talk with someone over lunch / dinner just because there was a power outage so you cannot watch TV over the meal?

When was the last time you pause your racing thoughts and listen patiently as someone excruciatingly slow telling her story?

When was the last time you honour God’s presence without thinking about your vibrating iPhone® in your back pocket?