Category: Psalm of the Day

Psalm of the Day for Friday, January 15, 2010.

It’s 12:42 am on Saturday! I suppose I could “cheat” and crank out a lot of these reflections in advance and simply schedule them to post “right on time”. My dear ones, there’s only One who is always “right on time”. (Some of you know To Whom I’m referring. )  Sistertech is fortunate, at least she thinks she is, in that she lacks any serious difficulty with the sin of striving for perfection. I would tell you my other sins, but let’s face it: we’ve just met. I’m not that kind of Tech.

So while the posts may from time to time be “late” from the perspective of picky humans, please rest assured that when Sistertech adjusts her wings and attends to The Document, she really is coming at it “live” — mistakes and all.

Psalm 17

¹Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry;
give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
²From you let my vindication come;
let your eyes see the right.

In our line of work, clients and even our colleagues, will often doubt the elegant solutions we offer to resolve computer difficulties. Sistertech knows of one recently retired Tech who, someone questioned her solution, would mutter: “Fine. Don’t trust an angel! See how far it gets you!” This, shall we say, is itself, not the most elegant of responses to such situations. What’s worse are those situations when others lie about what one has said, done, or thought. From my personal experience, I’ve found it much  better to allow The One In Charge to be the final arbiter of who is right and who is wrong. And the Psalms are brimming with reminders of how and why this is a good operating practice.

³If you try my heart, if you visit me by night,
if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me;
my mouth does not transgress.
⁴As for what others do, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
⁵My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.

The Psalmist does set a rather high bar. There’s no getting around it. But Sistertech thinks it never hurts to aspire to more than others might assert you are capable of achieving. I was going to say that Sistertech tries always to “outdo” herself. This it not true. I rarely even try to do that. I’ve already confessed that I am not perfect. What makes me think, then, that I can sing this psalm along with the Psalmist whilst retaining any modicum of credibility?

Good question.

Two guidelines help Sistertech. I gladly pass them on to you. Always, always, always try to NOT make the same mistake twice. (Making new mistakes is perfectly acceptable as far as Sistertech is concerned. What one wants to do is reduce the number of endless loops. Second, one must always, always, always take a moment to discern whether or not the omission or commission of a thought, word, or deed revokes one’s salvation. In other words, when in doubt Sistertech asks herself, “Does my salvation depend on this person’s opinion of me? Of my work? Of my spinach salad dressing? Or of my interpretation of the Psalms, for that matter?”

The answer clearly is, “No. It does not.” Once that has been settled, Sistertech finds that the various complaints that are inevitable in our line of work usually can be set aside with alacrity.

⁶I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me, hear my words.
⁷Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O saviour of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.

I love this next part for it has brought me a great deal of comfort.

⁸Guard me as the apple of the eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings,

The Psalms certainly has a keen view for what it feels like to be cornered and desperate. If nothing else, we know that we’re not alone in enduring the difficulties we find ourselves in. In fact, it’s rather nice to hear someone else say to you, “I just hate it when that happens to me!” These words of the Psalmist remind Sistertech that whatever difficulty she’s facing, she can count on The One In Charge to help her out.

⁹from the wicked who despoil me,
my deadly enemies who surround me.
¹⁰They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
¹¹They track me down; now they surround me;
they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.
¹²They are like a lion eager to tear,
like a young lion lurking in ambush.
¹³Rise up, O Lord, confront them, overthrow them!
By your sword deliver my life from the wicked,
¹⁴from mortals—by your hand, O Lord—
from mortals whose portion in life is in this world.
May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them;
may their children have more than enough;
may they leave something over to their little ones.

I’m not a big fan of sarcasm and some Psalms are quite heavy handed in this regard. But the point is unmistakable: there is a clear distinction here about the agendas we pursue. While the point of the psalm is a negative one here, I read it as a reminder to be as choosy as possible: do I want to pursue this kind of thing or that? Choices have consequences.

¹⁵As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

Hmm. “Awake”. One must first be asleep before one can be awake. Minor detail.

There are a few verses here that a very close to Sistertech’s heart.

Psalm 3      A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.

¹O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
²many are saying to me,
‘There is no help for you in God.’
Selah

Don’t take it as a taunt. For Sistertech it’s: “There is no help for me except in The One In Charge”. It’s something from The Documentation that Sistertech recites most. Hand’s down. Ever started a repair and hit that little “speed bump”? That USB port that’s not working? That pesky corrupted file that insists on saying “Hello World!” when you least have time for the joke?

It’s good for people in our industry to admit not defeat, but to admit that one’s success rests solely in the hands of The One In Charge. Sistertech is glad Ps. 3:2 is with us. If it hadn’t been written she would have had to write it herself.

³But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
⁴I cry aloud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
⁵I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
⁶I am not afraid of tens of thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.

How many of us have experienced this? We lie down. We fall asleep. We wake up. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Sistertech still struggles to embrace this routine. It’s a brilliant one, though. Stick to the basics: go to sleep (at some point), get up every morning (“morning” is relative), and don’t worry about the competition. (See below)

⁷Rise up, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸Deliverance belongs to the Lord;
may your blessing be on your people!
Selah

Psalm 112

A psalm of open source distros.

This psalm is so rich, so full of allusions to the work of so many of Sistertech’s brothers and sisters. Where, oh where, to begin?

¹Praise the Lord!
Happy are those who fear the Lord,
who greatly delight in his commandments.

“Fear” gets a bad rap these days. Yes, there’s good fear and bad fear, don’t get me wrong. But I have no problem “fearing” that the tuna salad at the local gas station may be past its prime. Fear is good. It’s a good thing to read the warnings that The One In Charge sets before us, the ones we see every single day as we compute away: “Empty all of the items from the trash? If you choose to empty the trash, all items in it will be permanently lost.” Only among the most jaded does this kind of warning not strike fear into one’s heart. Personally, Sistertech delights in such fearful warnings because her clients usually take them to heart.

²Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
³Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures for ever.
⁴They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;
they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

While I never worked in the Programming Department, I do see them (or their shades, as the Greeks would say) coding away through the night and into what the rest of us know as daylight. This psalm reminds us to give thanks for the servants of The One In Charge who provide code for us. Truly they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

They are gracious. None of them necessarily has to provide open source code for us. Yes, there is the employment issue, but let’s face it: these folks code for the sheer happiness it brings them. This happiness multiplies since they know how useful their programming is for the rest of us. This is graciousness personified.

They are merciful. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever once had an open source program that was too difficult to install? I thought not. And don’t even go there about the hours spent on hold for something called “technical support”, hours of waiting that can be reduced to a mere 59 minutes for a fee! Only the merciful programmers ponder such things as they code. It’s so touching, really.  I always get a bit choked up when I think about it.

They are righteous. Have you found a malicious worm hiding in the repositories? Have you gone on orgies of software installations, installing and uninstalling program after program, confident that nary one of those programs would cost you a single penny? Righteous? Righteous! Who among us is more righteous (besides The One In Charge, that is)?

⁵It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
who conduct their affairs with justice.
⁶For the righteous will never be moved;
they will be remembered for ever.

See above.

⁷They are not afraid of evil tidings;
their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.
⁸Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

It’s not so much a smugness (that would be unseemly). No, it’s a confidence one finds in the open source community. This is why their hearts are steady and they are not afraid. Operating systems come and go. Each one promising pleasures beyond one’s wildest dreams. And each time, dear friends, each time we fall for it. It is as though no one of us has remembered each year the promises Lucy made to Charlie Brown. How despicable! How treacherous! The open source programmers will indeed look in triumph, not merely on their immediate foes, but the foes of all who seek justice and openness in the cosmos.

⁹They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;
their righteousness endures for ever;

See above.

their horn is exalted in honour.
¹⁰The wicked see it and are angry;
they gnash their teeth and melt away;
the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

There! I’m glad I got that off my chest.

Friday, 8 January, 2010

[Almost caught up]

Psalm 96

I take the Psalm for January 8 from the book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. This day we honor Harriet Bedell.

Reading over the brief particulars of her life, it reminded Sistertech of her own early ministry to those who were traumatized from earlier encounters with personal computers and the scourge of the earth, the DOS operating system. This was in the late 80’s folks and DOS was not the kind of thing one foisted upon the innocent computing neophyte. Blessed Harriet seems to have been attentive to the needs of those to whom she was called. She evidently worked with Native Americans in Florida and did her best (all things considered) to help them use their indigenous skills to meet the challenges of living in the “modern” world.

Blessed Harriet was not the kind of missionary to boot up a PC, run a few DOS commands and leave those whom she was called upon to help staring at the C:\ prompt.  For her example of humility and sensitivity, Sistertech is grateful.

¹O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
²Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
³Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous works among all the peoples.

I thank Rob deMallac for declaring to me the glories of Ubuntu lo, these many years ago now. I guess we’re all missionaries of one kind or another.

⁴For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
⁵For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.

Theologically, Sistertech has always been curious about this “plural” thing going on here with “gods”. The Documentation is clear about the singularity of The One In Charge. But even in the Doc (for short) gods (plural) are mentioned. Well, it’s above my paid grade so I don’t worry about it much.

What does seem spot on is this distinction between “idols” and The One In Charge. I used to see this worshipping of idols frequently in my house calls. “They guy in the Big Box Store said that <the-program-that-shall-remain-unmentionable> was what we needed to make the phone list for the babysitter.” Really! In my snarkier moods I almost thought these people deserved their idols. I had to go through an attitude adjustment on that one.

Now, I’m not pointing fingers…well, yes, I am pointing just a wee bit. Sistertech is ready to confess her own past dalliance with idols. Year after year, upgrade after upgrade, from Mac to PC, and PC after PC. When I think about idols what really comes to mind are the lower level software programs. The same old idols. Software promises made but hardly ever kept. And yet what did I do? I kept bowing down no matter how feckless the software had proved itself to be. It really gets my computer jumpers twisted up in knots when I think about…now what is it called? It’ll come to me in a…yes. About the money I threw away sacrificing to mere idols.

The Psalmist reminds us “The One in Charge made the heavens”. This isn’t liver chopping folks. It takes a real deity to make the heavens, and in addition, to make them heavenly. But what’s this got to do with computing? It’s clear to anyone who has given it the considerable attention it deserves, that The One In Charge made The Computer. I admit that perhaps I’m deluding myself. It’s hard to tell. Since I’m in winking distance from The One In Charge, it never occurs to me that there are others who are In Charge. Sub-contractors, yes.

⁶Honour and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

⁷Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

I might get busted for saying this, but I don’t think The One In Charge is at all unhappy about The Steve. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if The Steve and The Linux aren’t all part of The Plan. (The Microsoft may be involved, but not in a nice way. I’m just sayin’.)

Thursday, 7 January 2010

Psalm 103

Of David.
¹Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
²Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
³who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
⁴who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵who satisfies you with good as long as you live
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Another fav. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and hey! Don’t forget about all those benefits! But what caught my eye tonight was: “who forgives all your iniquities.” And don’t we all have them! So for the times I procrastinated about backing up my files, and leaving the power strip on and plugged in over the week off we had at Thanksgiving, and, oh. The poor posture…

That’s a big one for Sistertech.

⁶The Lord works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.

I haven’t followed the latest from Iran. Sistertech is impressed by those who are protesting and yearning for justice. I’m proud that the international IT community has been helpful.

⁷He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.

All this bit about being “mortal”, about the ephemeral nature of our own lives has got me thinking about our digital culture. What on earth is going to happen when all the “lights go out”? Librarians are already having difficulties retrieving what they’ve digitally archived already.

Rather than get freaked out about it, Sistertech’s advice is simple: Live. Log on. Listen. Love. Leave a good word or two every day.

¹⁷But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
²⁰Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
obedient to his spoken word.
²¹Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers that do his will.
²²Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Well, Sistertech is trying to do her bit to bring a little happiness and solace to the human beings whom she has on her “tech watch list”. So far they’re doing well. Maybe I’ve been a good influence. I sure hope so.

Epiphany

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

One of my all time favorites: Psalm 100

¹Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
² Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
³Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
⁵For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

What a psalm to let it all hang out! Joy! Fun! Music! Soaring praise! Well, perhaps coming closer to earth we might crank up this psalm when the updates install without hanging, when the spam filter actually works. Yes. Life is good. Wireless connection is flowing nicely through the ether. Yes. Give thanks. Give thanks.

It’s amazing the number of things that transpire every nanosecond for which we ought to be giving thanks. It’s a product of being a citizen in the most technologically advanced country in the world – last time I checked. Our technology works. Our daily, mundane technology works. On this Epiphany I give thanks for the light that comes on when I flip the switch. And I’m grateful for the light that has come to expel the darkness.

We could join the psalmist in add some shouts of joy to our repertoire whenever we turn that “on” button on the ol’ laptop. The thing actually “fires up” and is “ready to go”, to echo a familiar phrase.

So let me just say on this Epiphany that I’m thankful for being Sistertech. I’m grateful for having a mind that can soak up this tech stuff, mess around with it and have fun doing it.