Settling For Convenience

We know there’s nothing like a good home-cooked meal from scratch. In other words, food is prepared from the source, not from a hydrated box or can. There’s nothing like “instant” in the goodness of the best you offer. Lemon zest comes from the rind, potatoes come from a storage bin, and butter is home churned. Roux comes from patient mixing, stirring, and heat and is not found in a can or powdered mix.

But when time is of the essence, and the dining crowd suddenly increases, we often look for a way to produce results faster. That’s when we settle for convenience. There’s no time to wait for a new batch of food to be patiently created. You Need It Now!

The Ford Assembly Line taught manufacturers how to conveniently and quickly assemble a new automobile. Mass production created more finished products quickly. But workers left Ford to work for the competitors because, though quicker, working the assembly line was not as enjoyable for the worker. [Source]

There’s something about taking time to do the work you want to do and enjoy the results you expect to find.

Growing up, we had barrels of pecans in the barn. Unshelled, they waited patiently for our hands to fill our pockets with this delicious nut that was a favorite snack or meal replacement – if my mind serves the memory correctly. You learn to crack the shell with a rock, stick, bicycle, or even with your hands as you age. This did not make for a fast meal! It took time to crack and nudge all the goodies from the smashed shell.

A convenience store? I’ve been going to them all my life, but you know it’s going to cost you for convenience.

As with a good home-cooked meal, there is nothing fast about doing it right.

This Morning

It’s been the talk of the tech news how AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing the face of production. From photos to written articles and even the manufacturing and code-writing world, AI is doing the work faster than humanly possible.

All my writing tools revolving around how to say what I want to say better and more clearly is found in AI tools to make the sentence and word choice flow better. Easier for the reader. Think about how much we’ve gripped about autocorrect. AI cannot replace us totally, but it is sure making inroads to helping us get our words into production faster and easier than we ever thought possible.

I’ve never written with a sharpened feather and ink bottle, but I have used a manual typewriter. In class, you learned memory and speed and practiced for accuracy. When computers entered my world, it was still a manual world of a console with a fast typewriter and paper results. Add the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), and suddenly it’s a typewriter and monitor. Make it portable. All my word production is made to a file via a keyboard and fancy screen.

Psst… I’m in the market for a typewriter manufactured in my birth year. 1955.
I have a great company looking for one, and they will rebuild it for me when one is found.
Check them out at UnPlug Typewriter (They are on every social platform I use!)

In today’s modern world, I can just talk, and the words magically appear on the screen. Make sure there’s a “save” feature, and you no longer have to use your fingers. Just use your voice.

Ahhhaaa… But I find that inconvenient.
My brain-to-finger conduit still fires off more accurately than my brain-to-mouth.
At least with writing, I can pause, think, write, edit, correct, read, update, change,
and even delete it all and start over.

Take It Spiritual

There’s nothing like planning your spiritual response to life rather than reacting and hoping you acted appropriately. In other words, there’s nothing convenient to planning life and hoping it turns out correctly. If we’ve learned it, when we fail to live appropriately, then it’s our fault.

Life is not lived in the fast lane.
It’s a slow building and changing over time
to get to the person you should be.
Persistence. Patiently. Responsively.
Admitting when you are wrong.
Changing your habits to something better.
Growing. Improving. Responsive.
Christ-like, yes, that’s the key.

I extracted a portion of the scripture presented in a bible study last night and want to share it.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
bearing with one another, and forgiving one another,
if anyone has a complaint against another;
even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
(Colossians 3:12-17 NKJV)

Sometimes life is not convenient. Getting things done correctly is not always easy or speedily accomplished. When we start teaching better life skills when our children are young, it’s easier for them to become the lesson taught. How did Solomon present this thought?

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6 NKJV)

Start the process young. If you are past that age, start now. There is plenty of life left to live better than conveniently staying the way you were.

Yes. I, too, can change.