Confronting `Technophobia'

MY entrance into the computer age was anything but graceful. In retrospect, I think I suffered from what might be called technophobia: a fear of technology. I was content to continue my writing on an old typewriter. I was encouraged, however, to challenge my reluctance. Two colleagues introduced me to the conveniences of their personal computers. While the hands-on experience eventually quieted my anxiety, it didn't eradicate it. I had accepted the view that some people (me) had limited ability to adapt to changing technologies -- had limited ability to learn and to grow.

When I recognized this underlying problem, it gave me quite a jolt -- the issue really went far beyond computers. I didn't much like thinking of myself as so limited or unwilling to learn. I found myself asking, Could God's child (my true identity) be so afraid? Could Mind's, God's, expression, spiritual man, be so subject to intimidation? Obviously not!

Man is spiritual and wholly Godlike. Divine Mind forms man in its own likeness to express intelligence, grace, and dominion without measure. An understanding of God as infinite Mind and of man as Mind's expression begins to free us from self-imposed limits. The Psalmist sang of the understanding that derives from closeness to God in this way: ``Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.''1

Just as daylight dawns gradually but surely, spiritual light comes to us. I didn't immediately conquer my fears. But through persistent prayer I increasingly saw myself as under God's direction. A passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures summarizes what I was learning about my true, spiritual identity. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in her answer to the question ``What is man?'' that man is ``...that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker.''2

And gradually I saw that since God, divine Mind, had made me in His image, I had God-given ability to rule out mindless fear of technology with the assurance that my ability to understand was God-given and could not be restricted.

Well, a decade after personal computers were first introduced, I had my own. By that time, my purchase was hardly revolutionary -- except to me! Yes, there have been a few surprises. But as I prayed to let the Mind ``which was also in Christ Jesus''3 govern my actions, the snags were unsnarled and my work continued productively.

No doubt, in the coming years there will be many new technologies for us to face. We need not respond out of fear. The divine Mind that made us, gives us the ability to confront and to utilize new inventions. As we know ourselves as God's offspring, we'll have the poise to keep pace with a technological age and learn how to face the profound questions that arise.

1Psalms 119:129, 130. 2Science and Health, p. 475. 3Philippians 2:5.

Healing through prayer is explored in more detail in a weekly magazine, the Christian Science Sentinel.