New Life from Old Things

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"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them..." (Ezekiel 37:12).

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What to do with old computer parts? Some municipalities will fine you for throwing computers or monitors in the garbage because of the environmentally harmful materials they contain. I once sold my first PC at a garage sale. It was an XT clone with a monochrome monitor, plus an old 9-pin printer. I felt fortunate that someone actually paid me fifty bucks for it, just to use as a simple word processor.

Some guys collect old vintage cars and some women collect dolls, and I even know a guy that collects dolls, but that's a story for another newsletter. So far, I have a pretty good collection of PCs, simply because they become obsolete so quickly. They are fully functional: an XT with a turbo 8088 processor and 30 megabyte hard drive, a 5 1/4" floppy drive, and a 300 baud modem. I think of it as the electronic equivalent to a '65 Camaro. Then there's my old faithful 386, fully loaded with Windows 3.11, a 4x CD-ROM, Sound Blaster sound card, a 400 megabyte hard drive and a 3 1/2" floppy drive. It was more like a Honda. I build my own machines now, but have purposefully stayed behind the technology pack. With cars, I used to do my own tune ups, before--ironically--they because so dependent on computers. Without the compulsion to have the latest and greatest, I can build a nice PC for about half of what I paid for that original XT clunker.

My older PCs are virtually worthless to anyone. I can't even give them away. It just seems a shame to put them in the trash. Who knows, maybe someday I'll put them in a display case and listen to my grandkids ask how we managed without a mouse.

Whether your old computer equipment still works or is worthless, you may find some helpful hints for donating it to charitable organizations or disposing of it properly at Lee Hudspeth's site on "Recycling PC Components and Paraphernalia."

http://www.thenakedpc.com/lee/green/index.html

Christ is Risen: A Theology for Living a Resurrected Life
Mark Sibley Jones

Easter. Once again we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

Years ago, I had a student who kept describing his helplessness in relationship to authority and his inability to change. One day, I leaned back in my chair and said, "So you don't believe in resurrection." He looked up, startled, and replied, "No. I guess I don't." He had the dogma, but not the dynamic, of resurrection. It was a release for him to finally admit it. And, that began our journey of discovering the present tense reality of personal renewal.

Life ebbs and flows. There are dark nights of the soul and dawns of new hope. Resurrection is a living reality as well as historical record and a future hope.

After Jesus' resurrection, he was seen at the empty tomb by his female disciples. Later he appeared in a locked room to announce his presence. On another occasion, Jesus traveled with two person to a Emmaus. Just how does a resurrected person relate to others? In these cases, Jesus was once a host, again a guest, and also a companion.

Gracious hosts accommodate their guests, and insightful spirituality leads us to welcome the new into our communities, our systems, our families, our relationships; our thinking. God brings new life and displaces the old. We may respond with grace or frustration to that displacement. God serves as a mid-wife to our new births and asks us to create a nurturing environment for newly born gifts of grace. In what ways is God bringing a new presence into your life that requires a shift in your way of living?

Resurrection makes a guest of us. When we "turn a corner" in life, or experience some renewal, we often find ourselves in the tension of old structures that may not want to accommodate our difference. We may need to move on. Or, it might be most gracious of us to remain and author change. Resurrected persons, after all, may bring new life to institutions.

Aside from these defining moments of change, resurrection creates new companions. Thank God for those who journey with us through both our despairing nights and our new beginnings and on into the pilgrimages that follow! To whom might God be calling you to companion in their explorations of renewal?