My car is a 2015. I like my car. It has a back-up camera, which I think is a wonderful idea. It also has a side camera on the right side which comes on when I turn right. I pay no attention. I don't need it because I know how to use the side mirror and how to turn my head to look out the windows on the right side. My car has a light on the dash that lets me know if I have low air pressure in a tire. I don't use it, either. First, there is a sensor problem, and it is always on. Second, I know how to check the pressure in the tires on my own. So, I like my car even though I do not use all the bells and whistle common on vehicles of that time. 

    Most of you know I am in Ohio now to assist Marsha after her two strokes. Part of that is taking her wherever she needs or wants to go. My car is a little hard to get into and out of, so on these occasions, we take her car. She bought it before the strokes and is a 2023. I hate that vehicle. Various tones and lights for everything. If you are on the highway and someone is passing you, there is an urgent alarm to let you know someone is passing. I know someone is passing because I pay attention to rearview and side mirrors and can turn my head to the left or right. If I make a somewhat sharper turn to the left or right and cross the white line just a little, an alarm goes off. If I am in a parking space with the car in reverse and a car goes by, another alarm goes off. I am not moving because I saw the car coming, but the alarm goes off anyway. When you get into the car and close the door, an alarm goes off to let you know you have closed the door. Two things that really bug me when I am stopped at a stop light or stop sign. First, the engine shuts off. If I brake to a stop, the engine shuts down to conserve gas. When I let off the brake, it starts back up. The second thing is, when the vehicle in front of me starts to pull away, an alarm sounds. The first time I drove this piece of junk, I kept asking Marsha what all the various noises were. She had no idea. Gradually, I have identified the noises. When I asked Marsha why the alarm sounds when the front car is pulling away, she supposed it was to alert the driver of second car who might be texting or had fallen asleep. That sounds stupid to me, but it is probably right. An interesting point is that falling asleep at the wheel or texting at the wheel is illegal. That vehicle drives me nuts. I drove her to Cleveland today for a doctor's appointment. Four lanes of traffic headed into town. 60 miles per hour. Bumper to bumper. Cars all around. It sounded like a orchestra warming up before the show with each instrument doing its own thing. Lights and buzzers and bells and honks and the GPS telling me there was a very sharp left coming. 

    We are designing our tech to make it so we don't have to think. And we welcome it.

    Yet, all this that is designed to make life easier is actually dumbing us down. If you mention running a trap line or taking furs, anyone younger than 50 is confused. Probably 20 years ago I was sitting on a bench in a mall and reading a book while waiting for my wife when two teen girls walked up to me and asked the time. I looked at my watch and told them it was a quarter past five. They gave me a weird look and hurried on. I thought about that and realized I was speaking a foreign language. If I had said five fifteen, they would have understood. Cashiers mostly don't know how to count change. You get the wrong change back and you question it, and the response is, "This thing here says you get $4.72 back." The cash register is always right. I once asked for the manager and when she came, she also pointed out that the register said $4.72. Do we ever really think for ourselves anymore?

    This has swept on us like a sudden storm. It affects everything we do. Someone posts a couple of Bible verses on Facebook and we seize on them. "Wow, the Holy Spirit really spoke to me there!" Except, maybe not. Jeremiah 29:11---For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Oh, wow, that sounds great! By itself, it does sound great. But I would bet that maybe one person in a thousand knows the context of that verse without going back and reading it. Jeremiah is writing God's word to the those who survived the forced march to Babylon. He tells them to work hard to establish themselves in the strange, new land. Work hard, stay true to the Lord, bear suffering because God has a plan in all of it. And, in 70 years that plan will become apparent. It isn't immediate help. The people reading it would almost all be dead. It is not given for comfort. It is given as instruction. Several have sent me this verse since I retired. Thank you for being concerned, but I don't have 70 years to wait. 

    We are human, and humans like their ease. Don't be dumbed down. Stand strong for the true faith. When someone plucks a verse from here and from there, go back and read the passage. Pray, read, study to show yourself approved. Be the people God wants you to be.