My husband and I have had the digital cable television box with a DVR for a while now.  It has completely changed our lives.  Honestly, I don't know what "DVR" stands for.  I can assume it means something like "digital video recorder" - but that's just a guess, even though it sounds educated.  Really, I don't care what it is.  I just love the fact that it is.

If you aren't familiar with DVR, let me give you my lay person's summary: this machine-program-gizmo-thingy can record 2 shows at the same time.  It also can be programmed just once to record a particular show over and over as it airs week after week, and even that can be further programmed to catch only new episodes or only shows that air on a certain time or day or even that same show on multiple days, or it can search the globalsphere and find that show in every language in every country at any time it airs and record it to your machine-program-gizmo-thingy.  (Okay, the last one, I made up.  I think.)  Impressed?  But get this:  it also automatically records whatever show is currently playing on your television set, so if you have to go answer the phone, stir the food on the stove, let the dog out, comfort the baby, relieve your bladder or whatever else might take you away from the show you are watching, you can pause the program OR rewind the program when you get back to the TV and not miss a thing.  How cool is this!?!?!

This DVR has changed the way we watch television.  We set to record the shows we want to watch and then go about our lives.  After the show has aired for, say, 25 minutes, we go nestle onto the couch, turn on the television, and start watching from its beginning the show that we've recorded (even while the show is still airing in real time).  That way, we can zap through the commercials and the parts we don't want to watch, and we generally end up at the end of the program just about the time it would be finishing up in "real life" time.  So cool.

If only life were like that.  We could speed through rainy days, uncertain circumstances, uncomfortable situations, boring meetings, grocery shopping, job hunting, house cleaning, sleepless nights, grief events, the frigid winter, unsolicited advice, laundry detail, tax season, and everything we deem a bother.  And by that reasoning, we could pause, rewind, and replay our wedding day, baby's first step, that last precious moment with a loved one, the winning touchdown, the feeling of falling in love, a momentous achievement.

On second thought, maybe life imitating DVR isn't such a good thing after all.  How could we appreciate the peaks without the valleys?  Love without loss?  Achievement without failure?  Warmth without cold?  Blue skies without cloudy days?

It is said that often in our lowest points, we encounter God.  It's not that God isn't always present.  It's just that we aren't always present to the experience of God in our lives.  But when tragedy strikes, or when we experience a loss or a loneliness or fear or discomfort, it is in these times that we allow ourselves to tune into the God who watches over us.  The God who never slumbers nor sleeps.  The God who knows our going in and our coming out.  The God who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death.

Yes, if it is in these times in the valley that I am more likely to come to my God, to inquire, to search, to listen, to be led--even if these times are difficult, tedious, and possibly scary-- then I will live in them.  No fast-forwarding by me.

But, as for "American Idol," "Ugly Betty," and "House" - the DVR is the ONLY way to go!

Grace and peace to you as you journey.

Yours in Christ,  

~~Jennifer

4/30/08

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