THE RIGHT KIND OF POWER
El Poder Propio
By Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Sunday, August 31, 2014
Autumn is in the air. [Photographer: Nicolas Raymond. Photo courtesy of Stockvault.net.]
As summer winds down, the air will start to turn crisp, if it hasn't already in your area. The cooler weather reminds us all to check our winter coats in order to prepare for the cold weather ahead. Perhaps you have already started making preparations, such as canning food, making jellies from the late summer crops, or freezing food for the winter.
Such preparations arise from past experience with difficult weather. The thought of emergencies reminds me of past times when electricity failed so that my family had to function without it.
Inclement weather can disrupt our lives. [Photographer: John Liu. Photo courtesy of Stockvault.net.]
On more than one occasion, the electrical power went out during a thunderstorm when I was a child. My mother's sewing machine was a non-electrical treadle model so that she lit candles and kept right on sewing. My sister's piano was acoustical, as they all were then, so that she was able to continue practicing. There were always board games to play and other ways to stay busy until the electric lights came back on.
My early experience has made me determined to learn how to accomplish many things without the use of technology so that my life does not stop when the power goes off. Oh, I like my gadgets and my computer, but I never want to be so dependent on them that I am handicapped without them.
Each time that a new gadget comes out, there are always people that flock to be the first to buy one. We even hear of people standing in line to be among the first to purchase the newest item, and they willingly pay high prices for the privilege. On such occasions, I remember that 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (New King James Version)
That doesn't mean that we should cling to outdated technology but merely that we should not give undue precedence to the latest electronic gizmo. Perhaps the advice of the English poet, Alexander Pope (1688-1744), is worthy of mention here: "Be not the first by whom the new are tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside."
And if you wait a bit to make your purchase, the price will surely go down.
BIBLE VERSE FOR THIS POSTING
1 John 2:15 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (New King James Version)
1 Juan 2:15 "— No améis al mundo, ni las cosas que están en el mundo. Si alguno ama al mundo, el amor del Padre no está en él. —" (Reina-Valera 1960)
…nor yet the last to lay the old aside. [Photographer: Katie Hildreth. Photo courtesy of Stockvault.net.]
