Opinions Expressed in "Rants" while informed by Catholic doctrine, are merely the opinions of the author.
The devil has possessed my computer!
Is it beyond the realm of possibility, that if there is a devil, as our religions claims that there is, that that devil could be inhabiting the synapses and microchips and software and USB ports of our computers, video cameras, websites of our digital cyberspace universe that we put ourselves in?
I find myself wondering here as I spend my entire Sunday afternoon trying to figure out why my STUPID #$%@!! website won’t let me upload its homepage updates for this week, causing me to imagine the pleasure of hurling my desktop computer into Telford Lake with all the strength I can muster, while I laugh with glee – perhaps the devil is trying to digitally interfere with the fulfillment of my mission, of doing God’s work, of spreading his Gospel.
I wonder this too when I give a session on Holy Orders, showing clips from my own ordination, and the DVD player doesn’t work – or when we try to hook up the laptop to the stereo for our camp dance and the now all-important remote is missing – or the countless times our cordless microphones go on the fritz, right in the middle of the homily or the prayer of consecration.
Maybe it is the devil – trying to ruin all of God’s work!!
Or, on the other hand, maybe God is allowing this to happen so that I’ll learn not to take myself so seriously, learn to relax and roll with the punches, learn that a technological relationship with people is no replacement for a REAL one, learn not to have a temper tantrum over things beyond my control, because nothing really is anyway. Maybe it’s the mission of my own personal ego, not that of the Gospel, that is being ruined. Maybe God is speaking to me through the technological trials that plague me, teaching me not to depend on technology – instead, to depend on him and him alone.
Maybe….
NAH!! It’s the devil.