Getting it Right
Mary A. recently wrote a great essay on patience. We must be on the same wavelength, for patience has been on my mind as well. Following are some of my thoughts on the topic.
Sometimes I think that the main reason why we have computers is to help us develop one of the most important virtues for a Latter-day Saint woman: patience.
I recently got a new laptop computer. It is truly a marvel–much faster and trouble-free than my old built-in-a-third-world-country-and-updated-over-the-years PC. I have had to seek the help of my computer-maven son to know how to easily switch between the laptop monitor, keyboard and touch-pad mouse and the desktop versions which are easier to use when I’m at my desk. I have gradually switched the programs I wanted to keep over to the new computer, leaving behind a lot of the clutter that had accumulated on my hard drives over the past five years.
All was well—except that on my new laptop, my preferred software for copying my music CDs to my hard drive now gave me an error message: I couldn’t copy and save anything in the MP3 format, because for some unknown reason there was supposedly no MP3 encoder on my computer. After following a lengthy series of links to other messages, I finally reached one that told me to contact my computer manufacturer.
Through a fascinating procedure called “remote connect,” the technician on the telephone was able to view what I could see on my monitor. He could then direct me verbally and by drawings that appeared on my screen, so that together we could discover why my software was not functioning properly, and what to do to correct the problem.
After about thirty minutes of interaction with the technician, I was told to change just one letter in an entry in the Windows registry, and from then on the program worked perfectly. Just one wrong letter kept a program from doing what it was designed to do.
That set me thinking. How often do I fail to live up to my potential, or fail to be an effective instrument in the Lord’s hands, because I have put off repenting of just one small sin or neglected to open my heart to the influence of the Spirit? Am I letting pride or selfishness keep me from doing what I was designed to do, or being who I was designed to be as a daughter of God?
I was very pleased to allow a qualified technician access to my computer so that he could guide me through a diagnostic procedure until I could rectify the error on my computer. Am I as willing to allow the Lord to help me discover and correct the errors in my actions, my attitudes, or my thinking? Do I take full advantage of the divine “remote connect” available to me through prayer and scripture study?
Getting things right on a computer often takes considerable time and patience. Getting our spiritual glitches corrected obviously requires a lot more time and patience. I hope I can remember that more peace and joy will come into my life as I humbly accept correction and slowly but surely make the changes I need to make. Because of the Atonement of our Lord, eventually “getting it right” really is possible for us all.
October 20th, 2006 15:44
RoAnn, maybe we are on the same wavelength! This was a really good post–I liked the analogy and it helped me to think about what I need to do in a way that made sense. Your piece motivates me to do better–patiently!–with making corrections in my life. Thanks!!!
October 21st, 2006 07:50
I’m glad you found my analogy helpful, Mary A. I am trying to succeed in turning potentially frustrating and negative experiences into fruitful learning opportunities. That’s often an uphill battle for me, but I think it’s one worth fighting.
October 21st, 2006 23:34
Thank you for this essay, RoAnn! I appreciated your analogy as well. I love it when day-to-day experiences can teach us about life and growth and ways we can improve.
October 22nd, 2006 11:06
That was great, especially with Jeremiah and the potter’s clay lesson we had today in Church.
October 22nd, 2006 14:29
Thanks for your positive responses, Michelle and Stephen M (Ethesis). We have been traveling for a few weeks, and we haven’t heard the Jeremiah lesson in any of the wards we have visited, but I’ll keep a lookout for it.