People Are Like Machines, Only More Delicate

One thing I used to tell my computer technology students is:

“Be especially careful when working on the
machines. They are delicate. If you break
them, they will not heal as you can.”

Boy, was that a load. Machines are much tougher than are people, as it turns out. True, our bodies may heal themselves—to a point—when they become damaged. But our souls are brittle to the point of being destroyed by very modest insults indeed.

As I stated in an earlier post, I destroyed my new smart phone the other day. It wasn’t intentional. In fact, I actually thought that I was being very gentle with it. I wasn’t. When an image wouldn’t move in response to my hand motions on the touchscreen, I tried to push it a bit more forcefully. That’s when I discovered why it’s called a “touchscreen”, and not a “pokescreen”. It doesn’t take any pressure. It only takes a touch. The device responds to the galvanic index of your skin. That’s why you can’t operate it with gloves on.

I’m reminded of a woman in my neighborhood who stands on a particular corner of a local street intersection. She presses the button to cross the street. If the light doesn’t change immediately, she presses it again. And again. And again. One time, as I sat in my van waiting for the light to change, I counted as she pressed that button twenty-two times. I wanted to roll down my window and scream at her: “Hey, you stupid bitch! You’re going to wear out the damn switch! Then we’re going to have to pay more taxes to replace it! Just press it once and wait!” I didn’t do that, of course. I just waited. As I waited, I imagined the “WALK” signal changing from a red hand, extended palm outward, to a white hand, extended finger upward, instead of to a white image of a walking person.

But I digress. What God showed me today is that I injure the people around me in much the same way that I injured that phone. I get impatient when they don’t cooperate with me. Then, having said something to them calmly, I repeat it a bit louder. Or I add an expletive or two for emphasis. Before I know it, I’m screaming away, insulting as I go, at the people who matter the most to me in this world. Pathetic. Really.

The worst aspect of this is neither the misbehavior on my part nor the damage it does to the relationships I share with those people. No, as I stated at the top of this post, the worst aspect is the fact that people are often more delicate than machines, not less. The harsh words can cause damage to their souls that no amount of apologizing or psychotherapy can ever heal. Their interfaces will be forever broken and not only will I be unable to relate to them as before but neither will anyone else. They will spend the rest of their lives painfully bruised and unable to relate to other human beings in a healthy way. All of this because of how I spoke to them. Had I slapped them, their cheeks might heal without visible scars. However, slaps leave spiritual scars also that no amount of time will heal.

In his song, Gossip, Gossip, gospel great Jester Hairston wrote: “If you can’t say somet’ing nice, don’t talk a-tall is ma a’vice.” That’s great a’vice…er, advice. The Bible says that man’s tongue is a flame, ignited by the fires of hell. It is humanly impossible to control. For those who have God’s Spirit indwelling them, however, it is divinely possible to control. All it takes is faith. I’ve already promised to be more gentle with my next smartphone. It remains to be seen whether I will keep that promise. A better promise would be to treat my fellow human beings more gently. However, as people often tend to piss me off, it will prove a harder one to keep. It will take faith: trust and obedience.

The Bible also says that Satan comes as an angel of light. He fools the unwary who fail to discern his lies. Sometimes, I open my fat mouth because I think that God put a word in it for another person. Only later do I realize that it wasn’t God at all but the devil. I’m reminded of the good-angel toon and the bad-angel toon on the two shoulders of Eddie Valiant as he sat in a cab in the film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Each is trying to persuade him to follow a certain path. In the end, he brushes them both off and makes up his own mind.

Sometimes, however, God does have a word that He wants me to speak. A Word of Knowledge; a Word of Encouragement; a Word of Admonition—prophecies all. He tells me to be brave and speak when I ought to. He also tells me to be patient and remain silent when I ought to. Often, it’s hard to tell the difference.

Sometimes I fantasize about hurting other people. I imagine myself using my Boy Scout pocket knife to cut their throats, or a machete to decapitate them. I only do this when they have behaved badly toward me or toward someone else about whom I care deeply. To my credit, I have never acted on these temptations. Perhaps where I need to start is with replacing these violent daydreams with intercessory prayers. If I pray for opportunities and other resources to bless others in Jesus’ name, perhaps Our Father will provide them. Then, I’ll be a part of the Solution rather than a part of the Problem. Won’t that be a change!