THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT OF COMPUTING
By Mary V. Kolar
I heard the voice loud and clear over the din of the sales office, the voices rising together in a cacophony of buy now's. "Jesus," it exclaimed. Prayer in this office environment was unusual, if not a foreign element of the regular workday, so it caught my attention. I looked over to see my associate, head bowed, one hand on his forehead in what appeared to be a posture of servitude speaking to his computer. Once again, he erupted with the name of Jesus. I thought a hallelujah, praise the Lord may have been an appropriate response but instead I inquired, "worshipping on a Friday? I didn't know you were religious."
"It's this computer!" he moaned, his face contorted in some new found revelation that had a remarkable similarity to frustrated pain, but we all have our own ways of expressing intense spiritual insight. I was going to ask what revelation had been bestowed upon him, but my phone rang, I had four new e-mails to contend with and then I forgot. He must have had a true epiphany of some sort, for the next time I glanced over my shoulder at him, he was quietly working away with his headphones on, a look of peace emitting from him, and an occasional smile foraging its way across his face.
It isn't the first time that I have witnessed the computers effect upon our spiritual nature. One lady pays homage to her computer on a daily basis. She keeps a variety of small stuffed creatures representing the animal spirits on top of her monitor. She is obviously a devotee of shamanism, believing the representations of the spirits of these animals will have a positive effect upon her computer. She has a dragonfly whose spirit represents swiftness so she can move rapidly from screen to screen. She also has a Tiger, which represents power so she can access many sites at once without freezing and has a frog which represents cleansing so she is not plagued from viruses and scams. She is going to Wendy's for lunch today to get the snake that comes in a happy meal. The snake spirit represents creative power so her reports should be much more interesting from now on. I admire her belief system and the fact that she actually cuts the tags off her representative animals.
One man has found that his computer serves as a mentor. He vents often to it, relieving his pent up hostilities and frustrations, thus becoming a calmer individual. I often hear him speaking to the eye of the computer, the ever-present glowing screen in expletives and rants that I dare not repeat. What one says in confessional should not be made public knowledge, and he must view his personal desktop as thus, for the words that he speaks to it are profane and direct, the kind of words one would only utter to a close friend who is not judgmental. I have noted that he enjoys keeping physical contact with the computer as well. The need to touch those close to you is an innate part of human nature. I just assume that the blows to its sides that he gives it are the equivalent of the slap on the back that males often exchange in a display of affection. After such an exchange between him and his machine, he often collapses into his chair in a posture of exhausted resignation, having reached a higher transcendental state of surrender and acceptance.
There are some women who worship in a more sensual way releasing the goddess within. They stroke and cajole the computer as a woman would a lover. "Come on, you can do it, that's right, that's the way," I've heard one woman speak as she stroked the sides of her monitor encouraging the computer to move onto the next page saving what she has given it. They surround the screen with pictures of their loved ones allowing the radiant energy of love surround them. They are all forgiving of their computer, basking in the joy of its successes and tenderly understanding it's shortcomings, knowing there are times that it will freeze. The screen saver is usually that of the person they hold most dear and share that love with the computer. These women often adorn the computer with a vase holding fresh flowers decorating it as an altar for their devotion.
In a world of high-tech and state of the art everything, it is good to see that people are still holding close, and grasping the things that really matter. I find my co-workers to be a true inspiration and I now have a different view of computers. Who would have ever thought they were more than annoying information machines, but actually icons of spiritual meaningfulness! It is uplifting to see that in our modern world spirituality still exists and thrives--even at the office. It is given proof that the fourth commandment of computing is adhered to in this modern day:
Honour thy computer and motherboard,
that thou mayest compute long upon the net
to which thy modem has connected ye.
So, realizing they are not mere machines, but technological gurus, during sign-off, I always close with a quiet Ohm and Amen.
Mary began writing seriously since she hit the hallmark age of fifty. She is meeting with good success as many of her stories have been published. Visit her at www.MaryVKolar.com to learn more about her writing endeavors. Contact Mary.
