Seeking peace and Oreos in 2010

By David Myers
Editor
As I write this, 2009 is coming to a close and I’m considering what might be acceptable New Year resolutions. Most of my resolutions start out okay but quickly deteriorate until I’m left with a feeling of complete failure. God wants me to feel good about myself, so why do I set unrealistic goals?
Will I really lose 10 pounds by the end of March? Considering my fondness for Oreos, French Fries, and Cool Whip, I doubt it. A better resolution might be that I won’t gain more than 10 pounds. That way, come April I can look myself in the mirror and proudly state that I only gained eight, maybe nine pounds. It’s good to be able to pat yourself on the back, even if patting yourself on the back sends extra pounds of fat undulating like the Dead Sea.

Will I really begin lifting weights to exercise my upper body as my cardiologist has urged me to do? I don’t remember any instance of Moses lifting weights, and he lived for 120 years. He did get a lot of walking in, though. I’m sure that helped.
But there is one resolution that I’m certain I can accomplish: I resolve to go the entire year without “texting.” This should not be too difficult. Last year I sent exactly one text message. I have to admit that I felt a bit like Alexander Graham Bell when he made the first telephone call. Only, in Bell’s case, Watson didn’t reply, “What does ‘arxglc’ mean?”
Arxglc? It had taken me 30 minutes to type “hello” and it came out “arxglc”? Maybe my fingers are just too fat, or my “progressive” glasses need adjusting. Or, more likely, my heart just isn’t in it. There’s something about staring into a tiny, hand held device that after a few minutes makes me want to put it in a blender.
It’s a strange, new world we’re living in. Land-line phones may soon be a thing of the past. I suppose that means we’re going to see more people walking around like cyborgs with those over-the-ear cell phones. Have you ever responded to a person talking on one of those, thinking they were talking to you? I have. They always look at me like I’m some country yokel who’s still amazed by digital clocks.
Making resolutions means to look ahead, and I have to admit that I don’t look too far ahead these days. I used to fill my mind with thoughts of tomorrows and next months, and even next years. I’ve stopped dreaming of days to come. I’ve tried living for tomorrow, but that gets tiring. When I tried living for next week? Exhausting. Living any farther into the future and you risk breaking out into hives, developing high blood pressure or, in the extreme case, deciding you’re Napoleon Bonaparte and invading Ingalls.  While I try to live for today, I admit that I actually like to live a bit in the past -- a time when life moved a tad slower.
If you’ve been to the diocesan website lately you’ll notice that we’re now hooked into Facebook and Twitter. There are many people out there in newspaper-land who utilize these functions, so it’s good that we’re on top of it. And it’s great that we have people here who aren’t completely baffled by new computer programs, as I am. Had I been asked to handle these new accounts, I would have done what I often do when asked to take on a task for which I’m ill-suited, I claim diplomatic immunity. Silly and immature, I know. But it leaves them walking away shaking their head and  I can go back my coffee and writing silly columns that occasionally make sense.
I know that there are many people who sing the praises of the convenience of texting and of the communal joy of Facebook. I can see how Facebook is of value.
But me? A personal Facebook page? My problem is that I don’t have a large circle of friends. Even my close friends back home only email … um … never. They’re like me in that they’re not likely to have a Facebook page because … well, let me put it this way: If someone were to find them interesting, it would only raise their suspicions.
I admit, right now I’m settled comfortably in the past, content to send those old fashioned emails and even, occasionally, a hand-written letter (gasp).
I’m going to seek peace this new year; peace of mind, peace of spirit. For some, that means being at one with the digital age. For those like me, it means clinging a bit to the past. I look forward to climbing up to my reading nook where my rotary phone and a 50s era phonograph are waiting, and then pulling out a good book.
But, you know, wherever God leads you…. It may be into the future, it may be lingering in yesterday, and for others -- for those lucky few -- it is recognizing that today is the day that the Lord has made.       
Here’s to us all “rejoicing and being glad” in each and every day of 2010.