Reflection #9: The Computer has Changed So Much

My adult life has basically spanned the history of the personal computer. In my final years of seminary education I wrote my papers on a Commodore 64, using a dot-matrix printer with tractor-fed paper. Compared to today’s computers that early machine couldn’t do very much, very fast - but in those days I was very grateful to be able to edit an assignment using those early word processing programs. That early computer saved me the hassle of having to retype a whole page (or sometimes a whole paper!) In those early years I also began experimenting with music software, creating music with sequencing programs - using MIDI synths and percussion modules. Often these MIDI tracks were synced to a multi-track cassette machine for my early recording experiments. I even had a rudimentary notation program that allowed me to do some basic transposing and arranging of printed music. Suddenly I was less reliant on others, I could do a number of things myself using this new technology. This has been both the blessing and curse of computers entering my life.

In the early years of my ministry bulletins and church newsletters had to be typed – thus all layout was done by the cut and paste method. That was familiar to me because of my work on school yearbooks as a teenager. In my early years at Christ Lutheran Church I remember hunting for appropriate graphics, re-sizing them on the photocopier and literally piecing The Broadcaster together (our church’s quarterly newsletter). Then a young member of the congregation got a computer and bought some graphic design software – this led to me still working late into the night, but now I was sitting beside George Flengeris in the basement of his mother’s house using a mouse to move elements of the newsletter around - no more scissors and glue, no more worrying about wrecking the only copy of an article. The computer meant some freedom from those types of worries, but soon new concerns cropped up. What was happening was the computer was raising my level of expectation – what would have been acceptable layout and design in the cut and paste era now looked to shoddy and unprofessional. The computer allowed me to express my perfectionism in a new way. (I used to think I wasn’t really a perfectionist, but since I’ve started using computers I find that I can obsess over details that probably don’t matter that much to the average person – especially in the realm of graphic layout or music recording.) The temptation has become to make things “as good as possible” and with computers there is always more tweaking that can be done.

I’m now discovering a new version of this problem in the area of photo processing. Back when I shot 35mm slide film, the picture either looked good when projected or printed, or it didn’t. Now with software like Photoshop I can tweak pictures endlessly – and this can actually hinder the joy of photography if I’m not careful. I can end up spending hours in front of a computer screen trying to fix up pictures to be as perfect as possible (not what I particularly enjoy) or I could be outside in nature using that time to take more pictures (which is my favourite aspect of photography.)

Computers were supposed to be labour-saving devices, but so too were washing machines. A strange thing happened when washing machines arrived on the scene, what was once considered ‘clean enough’ now became identified as dirty, and an item of clothing worn once was tossed in the wash. Rather than decrease the workload, because of the change in expectation, the workload actually increased! So too with computers, rather than change the workload, they simply changed the way we worked. Rather than reduce the amount of time we spent working they simply added to the amount of work we could do on our own, and in many ways we work more now because of computers than before they existed.

If I was to sum up how computers have changed my ministry in one word, it would be communication. Computers have given me more communication tools. I now have so many different ways to communicate with others. I can still work up a letter on my computer, print it off and mail it, but far more likely I will compose an email and fire it off at any time of day or night. I have used Skype to participate in meetings (saving me the time and expense of traveling to a meeting in another city – though I’m not convinced yet that meeting this way is as helpful as being all in the same room together). I use the internet to gather and disseminate information, the latter being done mostly through web pages and blogs like this one. I have even discovered the value of social media like Facebook, a way to keep in touch with friends and parishioners. This past year I even engaged in some online pastoral counseling using Facebook chat – I never would have predicted that possibility five years ago.

The downside of this wealth of communication tools is that we are always available, and immediate replies are beginning to be expected. Thus if I am not intentional about avoiding email and such on my day off, I never really get a day off. In some ways this is similar to the consumer world we live in with stores being open for more and more hours in a week. Now we expect to be able to purchase whatever we need or want whenever that need or want becomes apparent. There was a day and age when stores in my home town were closed for 2 or more days of the week – and yet everyone got what they needed. Now my home town has large grocery stores that are open 24/7 – who needs to buy groceries at 3 AM? But amazingly, if it is open they will come – even at 3 AM. So now we take that same “get it when you want it” attitude and apply it to communications and we expect instant replies. Is there a price to be paid for being always available? I suspect there is, and it comes in the form of higher stress levels, among other things.

So would I give up my computer? No way! For all its problems I have come to rely on this machine for the way I do much of my work. I arrange and transpose music for use in worship using the computer. I keep in contact with the various groups I am in charge of at the church using the computer. I do all my record keeping using the computer. I create services and sermons using the computer. I design posters and brochures for various programs of the church using the computer. I do Bible study using the computer. In fact the largest single portion of my work schedule is probably spent in front of the computer screen. 25 years ago I would not have seen that development. The computer has become an indispensable tool in ministry, but in the end it is still about the people, not the tool – and that will never change.