Mastering Technology
I HAVE a working knowledge of computers and other sophisticated equipment. Yet even so, I used to find that learning to operate the programs that run on that equipment could be frustrating! Depending on trial and error can be both trying and error prone! But there is a way we can be sure to have the tools we need to understand--and master--useful technology. It's prayer. It may seem strange to think of prayer as a dependable way to master technology, but over and over I've found that praying as Christ Jesus taught us to do has helped me remove fears that impeded progress.
God is Mind, is divine intelligence. And divine Mind is the source and provider of intelligence for each of us. Spiritual man, our genuine selfhood, is the child of God, and we reflect all of our creator's attributes. God-given intelligence, being spiritual and thus good and real, is one of those characteristics. Expressing this intelligence enables us to overcome any problem, including the fear that we can't cope with new and continually changing technology!
Christ Jesus is an outstanding example of the wisdom and understanding that God bestows on man. He mastered every conceivable problem that vexed mankind in his day. His healings resulted from his constant realization that his Father, God, was the only power or Mind. Jesus gave credit for his works to God. In fact, John's Gospel tells us that Jesus pointed out: ``The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise'' (5:19). When we humbly acknowledge Mind's control over our lives, we, too, are trusting and obeying God.
This doesn't mean prayer can be a coverup that allows us to neglect to make a sincere effort to learn a procedure. But it does mean that we can depend on Mind to furnish us with the understanding needed to comprehend instructions accompanying a program. And if there are no instructions, prayer can reveal the sound reasoning that will see us through to a practical solution-- or even the right person to ask!
One of the hurdles to overcome when learning new procedures is an unwillingness to adopt new methods. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of this newspaper, was asked in an interview what she thought of modern inventions. In her reply, which is reprinted in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, she said: `` `Oh, we cannot oppose them. They all tend to newer, finer, more etherealized ways of living. . . . We use them, we make them our figures of speech. They are preparing the way for us''' (p. 345).
I was required to master a desktop publishing procedure at my office. The instructions were difficult to understand. As I prayed, seeking guidance from all-knowing divine Mind, I realized that those who had programmed the system had been, in effect, expressing their God-given intelligence. I knew that this same intelligence was available to me to operate the system. Prayer also led me to sources of information that I had overlooked or didn't realize were available. Each time I made a breakthrough, I spelled out the procedures in a way that I could understand. Soon I was instructing others.
No procedure or process is beyond the capability of God's idea, man, to master, because man, as a spiritual idea of God, expresses divine intelligence without limit. We can go forward with confidence, depending on prayer to reveal whatever we need to know to master today's technology.
