See Computers, See People - Gibson

At high noon on December 28th – or as high as noon gets at the dawn of true winter – I sat in my husband’s big recliner. Plunked myself down, just to stare out the window. Alone for the first time, it seemed, during the holiday season. And very tired.

All was calm, all was bright. Only an occasional breeze nudged the trees. When they stirred, they flashed. Sparked like static between bedsheets.

A light application of hoar frost, barely noticeable, rested on surrounding spruce, maple and cedar. They wore their jewels like self-conscious royalty.

I liked that. Liked the still house, the quiet angels, the surprises over. Blessed residue of Christmas past.

Across a sky as blue as forget-me-nots, a white streak began and lengthened from the west, tracing eastward.

Just a jet, I thought. Wonder where it’s goin’ today.

A jet? the Holy Spirit interrupted. (Never fails. I sit down to be quiet. He interrupts.) A jet, Kathleen? That’s people up there. Human beings thirty-five thousand feet up, travelling 550 miles an hour. People leaving home. People going home. People happy, people sad. Mad people. Afraid people. Confident people. People, Kathleen.

Well, of course, Lord. I know that. So what?

Don’t call it “just a jet,” that’s all. I don’t even see the jet myself. Only people.

Into my silent day, holy day, into my all-is-calm, all-is-bright moment sparked a realization: computers too, are mere people vehicles.

I’m a bit of a Luddite when it comes to the computer. Not in practice — in mindset. I keep my website pages and blogs operational, but I’m slow to plunge deeper. Social marketing scares the bejeebies out of me. I see dangers there — making ourselves in our own image, mostly. Creating our own buzz. Becoming digitalized people. Would Jesus tweet? Honestly, now.

Clouds obscured the blue bowl above, the vapour trail dissipated and the jewels stopped flashing. But there we sat still, God and I. Remembering the people Christ died for and I craft words for. Talking over the messy business of communicating vital life messages using the tenuous mediums of dead trees, broken sticks, podiums, pixels, and 140 characters.

Sometimes I forget you write too, I said. An anthology, sort of, wasn’t it?

Yes, said the Living Word. Bit of time. Bit of effort. Not many read it. I speak some too. Even fewer listen.

I’d rather forget about the blasted computer, mostly, I said, yawning.

I know that, too.

The sun stretched two fingers through a ragged cloud, poked a glaring hole in my neighbour’s blue spruce and pinched shut my weighted eyelids.

That okay, Lord?

Okay. Just remember. People.

Hmm, hmm.

Hey, Kathleen?

Sigh. Now what?

I use computers too.

Tweet.

Kathleen Gibson

Practice by Pratice, a collection of Kathleen's Sunny Side Up faith and life newspaper columns will be published later this year by Word Alive Press, Winnipeg.

In 2009, BPS Books published West Nile Diary, One Couple's Triumph Over a Deadly Disease.

Changing Times - Harris

I can barely watch the news these days. That would surprise people who knew me as a teenager. Back then, I absorbed everything I could about Canadian politics and government. I scoured the papers for in-depth reports of world events.

But these days, I often find myself reaching for the 'off' button when pundits start talking. I can't get through any of our three national newscasts on most nights. I find them jaded, narrow and without vision. I’m just not interested in the Bay Street, boring stories they are reporting on. I also get the impression the pundits hope Canada has a bad future.

Have I changed? Probably. Or has the media become more negative and out of touch? I think it has.

It appears that mainstream media no longer captures the interests of large segments of our population, especially youth and women. Advertising executives have told me that clients who want to target female buyers often don’t place ads in daily newspapers. Apparently, few women read these rags anymore. Many youth have also turned to alternatives sources of news – such as the Internet.

What is it about the major mainstream newspapers and newscasts that apparently turns off large demographic groups in our society? I can't say for sure. But here's an idea:

It may be that our nation is looking for salt, light, vision, grace and hope.

Who is better equipped than us, Christians working in the media, to provide Canadians with articles and books that do inspire them, even when other media sources don't? Maybe no one.

One thing is certain: If our audiences are not inspired, they will leave. In fact, I think I hear them already moving in the distance. But they are still near enough to hear us calling.

Now the hard questions: How do we write a news story that does that? What news stories do we cover? What stories are the major newspapers and newscasts missing that we can pitch to them? My guess is that there is a lot to write about. And that we can find it.

Better get our ears to the ground.

Jane Harris Zsovan

Jane Harris Zsovan writes in both mainstream in Canadian publications about faith, business, arts, and contemporary Canada. She is the author of Stars Appearing: The Galts' Vision of Canada. She contributed "Jessie's Generation: Canada's Firebrands of Mercy and Justice" to Hot Apple Cider: Stories to Warm the Heart and Stir the Soul. Jane writes Vision of Canada Blog, on contemporary and historical Canada.