No. 1067 - DO YOU NEED TO REBOOT?

No. 1067

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

DO YOU NEED TO REBOOT?

Here is an interesting question that I would like to invite you to ponder with me for a few minutes today: Do you need to reboot?
If you are computer savvy, you know that “reboot” is a computer term and means to “restart a computer by loading the operating system; reboot.” That is the verb definition and here is how it reads as a noun: “an act or instance of restarting a computer.”
When I thought about this column and looked in my large Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (copyright 1964) for the definition, this word was not even in there. This is because computers were not invented back then. I was talking to my wife Janis about this column, and we had a big laugh when she said that back in her younger days, to “boot” was when someone kicked another person in the rear end with a boot, and to “reboot” was when he or she did it the second time.
All kidding aside, this is a good example of why the English language is so hard to master, especially for those coming from other countries. We can take a word that means one thing in a certain context, and then apply it to so many other areas of life. As it relates to computers, I have come across the practical side of this term on several occasions.
Quite often I have had problems with my computer, called my service provider and told them my problem. Granted I am a slow learner on some things, especially on computers, and quite often the tech person would say, “Have you tried turning off your computer and rebooting it?” Of course, after doing this in most cases the problem was solved, and it was running like a sewing machine. All I had to do was reboot it. Now back to what I was saying earlier about applying this word or term to other areas of life.
Every once in a while I discover that I am traveling down a dead-end street, and as one who tries to use some common sense, I make the decision to “reboot” and go in a much different direction. This has always worked out to be the best for me. Recently I heard our Associate Pastor Mike Lefler talk about working with the men at Renewal Ranch, a local drug addiction recovery program, and how these men are in the process of “rebooting” their lives.
There is one thing for sure -- being hooked on drugs or alcohol (also a drug) is definitely a dead-end street. This past week Janis was talking with my stepson, who is a pastor of a church in Ohio, and he told her they had just buried a young man, 20 years of age, who was hooked on heroin.
Sadly, this happens far too many times all across our nation. The wonderful thing about the Renewal Ranch approach is that it is faith based and totally supported by God’s people and churches in our area. The men who are in the program spend a good part of each week studying the Bible, feeding on God’s word, and working at a skill or trade to prepare them for a good paying job when they leave the program. They have a 70 percent success rate, far better than other programs that are not faith based.
I might add that a great part of the success of the program is that, in addition to learning the word of God, they spend time with God’s people, getting the kind of unconditional love that we all need to be a healthy and well-adjusted person. This is a very simple, but very effective concept, because it is based on change, as they “reboot’ their lives for a happy and productive future. We all have different needs, but here is my earlier question again: Do you need to reboot?
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(Editor’s Note: Bookcase for Every Child – Changing Lives & Futures – ONE AT A TIME. Please visit our website: www.bookcaseforeverychild.com)