IN SEARCH OF MAYBERRY

by Susan Duke

Gadgets. My world is filled with gadgets. And more than likely, yours is too. Once I learned to use them, I loved them. For awhile. Acquiring them was stressful enough…but after reading the manuals, acknowledging the intensely pressured feelings of getting left behind in this cyber-crazed world if I didn’t keep up, landed me in a love-hate-gadget-purgatory.

 I love the convenience of technology. I hate my increased reliance on them and the constant pressure to learn more and more. Technology is quite literally taking over the world…and (in my opinion) replacing true relationships. Sitting here now, I find myself thinking of Victorian times when there were no phones; when handwritten letters, notes on doors…and real face-to-face visits characterized real social living. Today we have what is called social media….and most of our relationships are experienced by a machine you must log into to communicate with someone you care about.  

 I still remember and admire my third grade teacher, Miss Wood, who taught me to write in cursive. She was a perfectionist when it came to penmanship, for which I will be eternally grateful. I wonder, if she knew how much she would be revered down through the ages, when machines and computer fonts attempted replacing her teaching skills and craftsmanship?  I still love handwritten notes, cards, and letters. They have become almost a lost art…but I am thankful I can appreciate them and include them in my life both when received and sent from my own hand.

There are days, I admit…I fantasize about driving down the highway at top speed and throwing my cell phone, my tablet, and my I-Pod out my car window! I envision myself shouting at the top of my lungs as I give them a final toss: Good bye and good riddance! I don’t need you anymore! I’d keep driving…and driving, until the scenery changed and I could breathe deeply again.  I’d stop my car, close my eyes and (if I could choose the next scene), find I’d arrived in Mayberry. Yep, good ole’ Mayberry, where, Aunt Bee cooked up real comfort food, dished out plenty of genuine common-sense wisdom, and where Sheriff Andy and Deputy Barney Fife kept an ever watchful eye on their little town from their Main street porch chairs.  

 I wonder, is this also why I love movies about small towns, common folks, and the simple lessons of life? Have we become so gadget dependent that we’ve lost touch with the reality of living? Keeping up in the real world of modernization, people say, is where it’s at today. And most days, I follow that line of thinking. But there is a longing in my soul that calls me to simplicity, to the days when hanging clothes out to dry on a real clothesline, and opening the windows on the first warm days of summer that no gadget can ever replace. Laying out under the stars rather than googling them on the computer appeals to my sense of wonder as a human being, not a human-doing. There’s a difference…in being…and in doing, doing, doing. I thought my first computer was supposed to help me get rid of office clutter and paperwork. But to my surprise, it grew. Why? Because, while I was able to save time and accomplish more, I added volumes of stuff to my already full to do list. So I ponder the question often, have we improved our live with all the gadgets available to us today? I no sooner figure one out than it becomes obsolete…and I have to replace it with a newer version. It’s a never ending race, and if I’m honest, I get mentally weary trying to run it.  

 The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun. But I truly cannot imagine gadgetry in heaven. I can never make myself believe that when I get there, I’ll visit a great technology museum and find that I-Pads and cell phones have always been. In fact, if I knew there were such a museum, I may not even want to go! But a Mayberry kind of heaven? Now that’s something I could look forward to! In my love-hate feelings for gadgets, and why I feel myself rebelling against them some days is because I seriously doubt they were ever in God’s plan!

 Oh, the warring inside between heavenly Mayberry and technology hell! These words, typed on a keyboard and computer might not have ever seen the light of this glorious day without technology. I have to admit, for a moment, my thoughts have found life on a screen where I can sort through the glory and the agony of modern day living. And I can’t help but wonder… is there a Mayberry screensaver I might purchase online?