The Wonderful World of Autocorrect

I have always been a good speller. That is not something everyone can say. Being a good speller does not mean I can win a spelling bee with the children that spell words such as feuilleton, nunatak, and gesellschaft. These are some of the winners’ final words in some of the championships. To be honest, I am not even sure what those words mean or how to pronounce them.

I attribute several things to my ability to spell. School teachers still taught phonics. Phonics teaches how to identify letters when hearing them so you can read the words. We also had weekly spelling tests in school for which I would have to study.

I was also in trouble a lot at school. I am very active and loud by nature and get bored very quickly. As a result, I spent many recess periods writing the dictionary as a punishment. While I may not have stopped being active nor have quieted down, it probably has something to do with learning how to spell.

Since I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, we did not have spell check or auto-correct features. We had typewriters, paper, and pens. If I needed to spell something, I asked my dad. His response was always the same. “Go look it up in the dictionary.” While this never made sense to me, my phonics class helped me enough to find the word in the dictionary so I could spell it correctly.

Nowadays, everyone sends digital messages to each other. People post their thoughts on social media. However, it seems no one seems to check their spelling or grammar. Either people do not care or are just too lazy to check what they have typed. I suppose this generation relies on autocorrect to do the work for them rather than taking the time to edit their work.

There have been books written and websites devoted to the hilarious misadventures of autocorrect. People laugh at these errors in spelling as they can change the entire meaning of what is trying to be said. Some people will say it does not matter since the messages are just for fun and entertainment, but I have seen it carry over into professional emails. It only takes a minute to check your work.

While spelling and grammar may not be the most crucial aspect of life, we tend to be just as lazy or nonchalant in other areas.

We make mistakes, but we do not learn from them. We keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We expect that things will correct themselves, but how often do things get back on course if no one is steering?

Autocorrect does not work in real life. You have to make the corrections yourself. Maybe you have an issue that is hurting you professionally or socially. You are the only one that can change it, but you have to recognize the problem first.

Self-examination is important. No one is perfect. We all have flaws. We should take a step back occasionally, identify areas of our lives that need adjusting, and form a plan of action that will help guide us back on track. It is much better to do a self-correct than to have unpleasant situations do it for you.

1 Corinthians 11:28-32 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

One Normal Night

They're creepy, and they're kooky,

Mysterious and spooky,

They're altogether ooky,

The Addams Family.

(First verse of The Addams Family Lyrics by Vic Mizzy)

I took my wife to the local theater the other night to see The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy. Whenever the show's reruns aired (the show went off the air the year I was born), I watched it. It quickly became one of my childhood favorite shows.

For those who are not aware, the show is about a close-knit family with macabre interests. They are not evil but are unique, as you can tell from the first verse of the song describing them. The parents, Gomez and Morticia, hold onto a passionate love for each other that rivals anything in any other production. The family is friendly and hospitable to others despite the reactions to their peculiar way of life.

In the play, there is a scene where the daughter, Wednesday, and her boyfriend, Lucas, sing a song to their parents. Since the families could not be any more different from each other, they asked the parents to act normal for one night.

Asking for one normal night poses a question. What is normal?

My family may not have macabre interests, but I can guarantee that ordinary to me is not normal for you. The statement is also accurate for you. Your standard may seem strange to me. Different ways do not mean either family is wrong. We are just different.

Even within my immediate family, normal is hard to define. My wife and I, though raised in the church, were still raised entirely differently. She finds some of the things I do baffling at times, and I wonder why she does the things she does. After a quarter of a century of marriage, we still wonder why the other person does what they do. It does not change our love for each other.

Society expects people to act normally, but who defines what normal is?

In a society where people are no longer attending church regularly, scheduling things on a Sunday has become the norm. However, my routine is to attend church whenever my work schedule allows. Lately, that has not been enough for me, though I will try to listen to online services when I can’t attend.

We pick and choose what we think normal should be and hold others up to our standards. We judge those that do not meet our usual expectations. It may not be intentional, but it happens. We may not even verbalize it, but we think it. If you ever thought, “Why would they do that?” you have judged them.

We should never judge others by their action. We do not think alike. We do not act alike. We are individuals. God created us to be in his image not in the likeness of each other.

I have certain traits that I have either inherited or learned from my dad. My siblings have the same dad but may have acquired different characteristics from him. All of my siblings have some things in common, but none of us are identical.

The same is true for everyone else in the world. It even holds for those with whom we attend church. We have the same heavenly father but have different traits.  Some may look at things from a teaching perspective while others look at things from a serving perspective. God did not create us to be like everyone else. He created everyone to be who he created them to be. He made us all unique.

So, what is normal? Whatever you usually do is normal to you. In whatever manner you typically think is normal to you. Do not hold me to your standard of normal. I won’t keep you to mine.

I always hear that diversity is a good thing. If that is the case, why do we want everyone to be like us?

Romans 14:12-13 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

Vacation

I love vacations. I know that seems like a simple statement, but it is accurate. My wife and I do not take enough vacations. We like to travel and see new things, but most of the time our trips are to visit the grandchildren or to attend. Trust me when I say those visits are worth every moment. Though they are almost monthly, they do not seem to come around enough. However, they are not the same as vacations.

We do not plan every moment of our vacations. Some people stick to rigid schedules. That is not us. We may schedule a couple of things and wing the rest.  This time our plan was only to go south of Miami to see friends for the weekend. The rest of the trip was to see what else there was to do on the way.

We began our trip in St. Augustine, Florida. It is the oldest city in our nation. I was here for a night back in 1984, but it has certainly changed since that time. It has become much more touristy. There was so much to enjoy about this place. We visited the St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum finding the story of a pirate that shares my last name. We walked through the historical Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Marcos. I especially enjoyed the tour of the Colonial Quarter which covered the 16th through the 18th century.

Miami was HOT which is not a surprise. The amount of traffic was also crazy. However, spending time with friends and visiting The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens was well worth driving the 28-hour round-trip.

The thing I enjoyed the most on our vacation was time with my wife. She is a magnificent person, which is kind of why I married her. However, between work, hobbies, and the hustle and bustle of daily living the time spent away from it all allows us just to be together.

I love spending time with my wife. It does not matter if we are doing anything or just sitting there. I love her, and I love the togetherness. While we have similarities in our likes and dislikes, there are many more ways in which we are different. Yet, we find things that we can do together. She is indeed my best friend.  The few vacations that we have allows me to experience life together without distractions.

We are all busy. Life does not slow down for anyone. Sometimes we need to get away to see what is important. Smell the roses, visit the beach, and enjoy a sunset. The beauty of this world far exceeds the ugliness on which so many people focus. We need to stop getting distracted. Focus on what is important.

Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

That verse does not say to think about the troubles in the world. It never mentions criticizing everyone who disagrees with you. Sometimes we need to step away and think about what we have been thinking about. Have our thoughts and words been productive?

Just like I enjoy spending time alone with my wife, God enjoys spending time with us. No matter what is going on in the world, He has time for us. We forget to spend time with God, but we must use the time we have. Get away from all of your trials and tribulations and just be with God. Give Him all of your troubles. He loves you even more than I love my wife. Sometimes she thinks she is a burden to me, but she is not. She is a great joy to be around. God feels the same way about you. You are not a burden. You are loved.