"Planned obsolescence." That's a phrase I learned in the early 1980s when I was studying leadership and management formally in the Education Leadership Program at UH. It implies that companies design products that will be great products for a period of time, but that they will eventually wear down and will no longer be useful. Since it is part of the design, it's "planned."
As I hold my current android, the phrase comes to mind, but now I really believe that communication companies do, indeed, build things that will eventually need to be replaced. However, the android and its support is really not even ashamed to admit it was designed to only last a couple of years. I now get messages telling me I need to increase space in the device's memory (16 GB almost two years ago sounded like a bottomless pit). Some apps came with the phone and don't offer deleting them, so I have to delete pictures I've taken and apps I chose to use. That means I have to consider the frequency of actual usage as well as usefulness as I combat my device's decreasing capability as it grows obsolete.
Wednesday marks the beginning of an annual journey in which we observe God's plan to overcome our obsolescence, brought about by our sinful nature. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our Lenten journey, and during Lent we observe the path God took to exchange his Son's life and resurrection for our sin, death, and Satan's ultimate defeat.
Isaiah says it this way: "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waste." (Ch 11)
Our fears are ultimately our own obsolescence in our lives, but God has given us everlasting life through his Son. We no longer have anything to fear with the certainty of the resurrection. As we begin our Lenten journey, we pray for God's guidance as we seek to strengthen our faith and truly learn the meaning of Christ's suffering and death.
Hope Men's Ministry
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