Much of the technology today was only a dream to me while growing up. But
in school we had this group of boys not quite men who attended to all of our
technology needs in school. They were the ones who set up the film strip
machines, could repair and rethread the movie projector in the dark, over dub
recordings, and run the light and sound at assemblies. They were the Audio
Visual guys, the AV squad, usually comprised of those who used slide rules and
wore pocket protectors, who would build radios and color TV’s from kits, and
were always picked last, if picked at all in gym class. But somehow today ended
up ruling the high tech world. In my school they were the ones who were
anti-war, were hippies, and listened to Hendrix and Led Zeppelin before the
trendy ones did. In fact the first time I heard the Led Zep album was when sent
on an errand in ninth grade to fetch one of them to repair our film strip
projector who was self destructing in mid flight, and they turned me on to them,
listening through head phones, interrupted by the next person sent to find me
and bring them back. But their mark in my life had been made, and later when
installing an 8-track in my car, they provided all they help, simple to them, a
nightmare for me. A far cry from today when you match blue wires with blue
plugs and red with red. These guys were pre-apps, nerdy at best, and today are
the software companies. They might not understand a new Corvette, but can
program its ECU remotely to give you more power. A long way from their VW buses
with peace signs and clogging the fast lane at 25 mph. It is these men and
women who when they were young boys and girls brought technology to our
classrooms. So today here is to all those wearing pocket protectors, using
slide rules, and keeping our high tech world functioning, here is to AV geeks
everywhere.
When I worked for Mercedes Benz, radios had gone on to become stereos to
become sound systems. One older lady confused by the 37 buttons on her S Class,
allowed me to advise her to “find a teenager to explain it,” and her grandson
did. Today we have apps for everything, carefully avoiding human contact, but
we still have grandkids. Let them earn their inheritance. But it wasn’t always
so, and my Grandpa’s era of technology was wax recordings on tubes only the rich
could afford, and silent movies for 5 cents. He was a father long before
talkies came into his life, the technology was there via Tom Edison, who
invented both recordings of audio and visual. He may be the original AV guy.
But for years they were incompatible, they ran at different speeds, and the
effect was most like the Ninja movies from the seventies, where the English
words stopped, but the Japanese lips kept moving. It took Edison advancing the
concept of the earlier Kinetoscope where audio was synchronized with video, to
make it all possible, something we take for granted today. Some 30 years after
inventing both movies and sound, he brought them together in 1928, in “The Jazz
Singer.” Which was actually a threat to those who made silent films, fearing
the audience would become consumed with the audio, and forget about the video
aspect. Something that we still need to deal with in real life terms, just not
on the silver screen.
“Walk your talk,” we are told from pulpits. Let your actions match your
words. Be doers just not sayers of the word. Yet in too many cases, from
Pastor to just saved we don’t walk our talk. The video of our lives doesn’t
match our audio. We are out of synch with God, allowing emotions, situations,
and influence other than the Holy Spirit to guide us. “Do as I say, not as I
do,” we hear, stepping over the Lazaruses in our life who God places there. We
dodge opportunities to bless and be blessed, turning off the video for fear it
will not match our audio. We turn off the Holy Spirit, denying him and going
our own way into sin, with disregard for the consequences. We need to get in
synch with Jesus, yet many have studied to find themselves approved, only to
fall short when it comes time to act. Yet others operate in the background like
the AV squad, only being called when problems occur, and help is needed now.
Many times the problem could have been avoided if they followed God, thankfully
he sent Jesus so we can be forgiven. He gives us mercy, which can only be had
after we screw up. Funny how that works.
So we need to work on our AV skills, daily as the Bible tells us, working
out our salvation. Not to regain it, you cannot lose the gift, but to fine tune
it. To let Jesus be the most important part of our lives, seeking him first,
then letting him add on all other things. But it takes self control, the last
in the list of the Fruit of the Spirit, to synchronize our AV skills. And it is
manifested itself in our actions and our words, by our choices. We can become
bitter, vindictive, hateful, or scornful. Many do, but when we choose Jesus
over the world, and are led by the Spirit, we change. Suddenly the words of our
mouth and the meditations of our heart are reflected in our actions. We can go
out and preach the word daily, using words when necessary. We can be identified
by our actions, our words later backing them up, rather than seeking forgiveness
when we do unto others before they can do unto us. It is a choice, just like
following Jesus, one we make hundreds of times a day. We can choose to be led
by the Spirit, or seek forgiveness from him later. Obedience is better than
sacrifice, I have the scars to prove it. Also when God enters a life we find
evidence of him being there, his love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness,
meekness, and self control becoming part of our lives. Walking with, rather
than chasing after God and his ways.
Miracles abound everywhere, yet we miss them. We aren’t looking, or
listening. No synchronization in the spirit. Yet God provides live
demonstrations every day. Every doctor who reads my chart tells me there is no
reason I should be alive after my aorta exploded. I am a miracle, and you may
doubt my words, but my scar gives it veracity. The visual proof God is there,
and his work revealed. We need to match our visual to our audio, it works both
ways. So be careful of what you speak, for long after your words are forgotten,
the images remain. We see Jesus on the cross, forgetting his last words. We
are that memory of his that he has sent to remind others, don’t let them or him
down. Or yourself. We need Jesus in everything, everyday. But when our audio
doesn’t match our visual, usually pointed out by the world, he forgives. We get
another chance. The film of our lives can match the audio, there is no app for
it. It is a person, and can do things no I-anything can duplicate. He is the
person of Jesus Christ. The answer. He is just waiting for you to respond to
his invite today. To allow your words to match your actions, just like his
did. To be forgiven, and to give meaning to your life. It takes listening to
the spirit calling, and then acting. It takes self control, your choice. It
takes Jesus. Will you take him into your life? Maybe the AV squad wasn’t that
geeky after all. Sound and action meeting and walking in one accord. Long
before AV we had Jesus. The real AV guy, making it all possible. Who ya gonna
call?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com