Insights to Living By Rev. Brad Morris: Faith and Technology

Two men were riding a bicycle
built for two when they came to a big steep hill. It took a great deal of struggle for the men
to complete what proved to be a very stiff climb. When they got to the top the man in front
turned to the other and said, ” Boy, that sure was a hard
climb.” The fellow in the back
replied, “Yes, and if I hadn’t kept the brakes on all the way we would
certainly have rolled down backwards.”   
We can all read that with a smile
on our face. This is a good illustration
of our modern world in which we live. We
are all like those two cyclists in the story above. Faith is in the front, helping us to get to
the top. There are times in which we all
want to have faith, the ability to believe in God, His love, care and concern
for us as mortals. Each person seeks to
fill the inner void in his or her own way.
It is a steep and a very difficult climb up that mountain of faith.
We each also have that second
rider with us in the form of technology.
Modern man’s abilities to seemingly answer life’s difficulties with a
myriad number of technological and scientific innovations is on that same ride
with us all, putting the brakes on our faith.
It is difficult in today’s world to take a leap of faith with all of our
modern educated ways.
It was over a month ago when my
wife and I sat in her oncologist’s office in Tampa for the first time. He looked at my wife and told her, “I
need to tell you some hard things. Get
use to it. You need to face
reality. You are dying. You need to write your will, get your affairs
in order, and talk about what arrangements you want for your funeral. You need to do that now while you are still
able too do so.” My wife and I left
that office on that day, very depressed.
Medical science was saying in effect that there was nothing they could
do to save my wife’s life from the cancer, which was growing inside of
her. The brakes of technology were being
applied hard to our lives.
Having been missionaries for some
twelve years, we had traveled to many countries and have many friends, both
nationals and missionaries around the globe.
We had visited, as missionaries, literally hundreds of churches in this
country. As these friends began to hear
of my wife’s need, cards letters, e-mail, phone calls, faxes and visitors began
to pour into our home, not by the hundreds but by the thousands. We were over whelmed by the sheer magnitude
of the response of people letting us know that they were praying for my wife
and her family. Then we began to hear
from people all over which we did not even know who had heard and were touched
by my wife’s need.
Needless to say our faith has
increased. I am very technologically
savvy. Yet, my faith is a controlling
factor in my life and not technology.
When we went back to the oncologist in Tampa, after he reviewed my
wife’s charts and reports, he sat down and scratched his head as he shook it
saying to Cherryl, “I don’t understand.
Some of my patients do not have some of the side effects to the chemo
you are taking. I have never had any
patients that had none of the side effects like you, and I have never had a
patient to not lose weight, but you not only did not lose weight, you gained a
pound!” At that point my wife
pointed at the doctor and said good-naturedly, ” Get use to it. You need to face reality. My God is healing me!”
Now modern science and technology
has said my wife was dying, but our faith says that she is not! Faith is winning this one. Yes, we are still climbing the hill and we are
peddling hard. Technology is in the back
seat (where he belongs on this trip) and yes he is applying the brakes. But we will get to the top! Matthew 19:26 says, “Jesus looked at
them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible.'”
Anyone for a bike ride of faith
today?