Disaster Tourism

I have to admit some bias here before I begin: I am not a big fan of Microsoft.  I hate their bloated, buggy, hacked together software so much, it drove me to Linux at the beginning of this decade.  This is pre-Ubuntu, and before Linux distributions used “ports” style software distribution like APT or YUM.  It was difficult to use and I couldn’t listen to mp3s or watch DVDs, but dang it I had to get away from Windows.  After Apple switched to using Intel processors, I got a Mac and have been virtually Windows-free ever since.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I have to admit that I have tried Windows 7 Release Candidate, and it is easily the best piece of software that Microsoft has produced to date, with the possible exception of the X-Box 360 firmware.  Granted, the user interface may have borrowed a few things from Mac OS X and Ubuntu, namely the new dock (Mac) and file system (Mac, Ubuntu, and any other Unix), but all in all it is very useable and much more secure.  Couple this with the recent charity of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and you might think this is a brand new Microsoft.  They learned their lessons from the Vista debacle and their questionable morals of the past and now they are ready to turn over a new leaf.

Then this abomination appeared on my screen.  Seriously Microsoft?  I’m supposed to invite all my friends over so they can look at my computer running Windows 7?  You want me to invite people I have to see every day into my house and try to sell them YOUR damn product? Oh, but it’s okay, cause you provided activities.  We can all have fun sending emails and looking at internets (which raises the question, “How many internets are there?”).

Something that Microsoft needs to learn (and perhaps also the United Methodist Church, but that’s a blog post for another day) is that they AREN’T COOL.  You hear me?  Not cool.  I know that Apple is cool, and you are getting some kernel envy over there in Redmond, but you don’t need to be Apple!  You know what the best marketing campaign you could ever have would look like?  It would look like this:

Hey.  Our Operating System isn’t a piece of crap anymore.  In fact, it’s really good.

Then you could have individual commercials detailing how good your product is.  When you try to look cool, you just end up looking idiotic: because you aren’t cool.  And that’s okay!  I’m not cool, but I somehow manage to get by.  Ben Folds isn’t cool either. It’s alright not to be cool.  Maybe you should stop trying so hard to be cool and just focus and doing something right.  For once.

In December 2007, in my home town of Tulsa, we had a very bad winter storm that rocked the entire city.  The ice from freezing rain gathered thick and heavy on trees and power lines, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands.  After the ice melted and the power was restored, the evidence of the fierce storm lingered for months.  It seemed like every tree in Tulsa was snapped in half.

Spring in Oklahoma usually starts around mid-March. While the warmer weather did come around the usual time that year, the flora and fauna had a harder time coming around than usual. I was really afraid that the storm had killed off all the trees and that spring and summer would end up being just as barren as winter that year.

As the weather turned warmer I made an effort to spend more time outside. I started taking bike rides up and down Riverside Drive to enjoy the not-quite-as-cold weather and get some much needed exercise. It was on one of these rides that I saw something amazing. There was a tree by the river whose top half was almost completely broken off. The top of the tree hung off the trunk at a 45 degree angle. The limbs that would normally be reaching towards heaven were now dragging the muddy ground. The break in the tree exposed huge splinters and twists in the wood; but these things are not what made the tree amazing, as it looked like most of the trees in town at the time. The amazing thing was that the limbs of the tree were completely covered in thick, green leaves.

“For a tree there is always hope. Chop it down and it still has a chance– its roots can put out fresh sprouts. Even if its roots are old and gnarled, its stump long dormant, at the first whiff of water it comes to life, buds and grows like a sapling.” (Job 14:7-9, The Message)

Hard times can sometimes hit us, just like that storm hit Tulsa, when we are off our guard and unprepared. The damage of emotional or physical pain, the death of a loved one, sin, or even just our circumstances can be significant and long lasting. It can scar us, leaving its mark for everyone to see… but all of those things can’t stop the abundant life that God has given us any more than that storm could stop the coming of Spring. God’s love is stronger than any adversary or problem, and nothing can stop its arrival.

Just like there is always hope for a tree cut down, there is always hope for God’s people. No defeat can stop God from loving us.

Well, I have decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon (more like blogwagon, amirite?).  I have no dream of being a Locke or Demosthenes, but I thought it would be fun to release some of my thoughts on the public at large and see what happens.  I plan on this blog being as specific in topic as the things that I enjoy thinking about the most; namely religion, technology, civil liberties, and maybe some areas in which these things overlap.

So, I think, I will begin my blog simply with a prayer that is perhaps the sum of all I hope to accomplish here (or anywhere else, for that matter). 

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.