Flight 143: An Allegory?

The tragedy of the Gimli Glider could have been prevented. And not just once or twice. There were many red flags, and I don’t refer to the ones that signaled the pilot to take-off. The first came when the ground crew initially discovered the faulty fuel gauge. The second when no one contested the mathematical conversion factor spouted off by the aircraft refueller. The third when an amber light flashed in the cockpit to signal a problem with the fuel pump.

Some may say, “those things happen all the time. How can you expect anyone to take such commonplace warnings seriously?” And while it is true that an isolated incidence of one such red flag may not merit careful inspection, the accumulation of flags causes the weight of the alarm to grow exponentially. For example, though it may be acceptable to question the gravity of a flashing light in the cockpit, if potentially-disastrous problems have been previously detected in relation to the instrument in question, then suddenly that flashing light should become of serious concern.

While I cannot contend that I or anyone would have been more prudent given the circumstances of the Gimli Glider incident, I do see a great lesson in the story. In life we have many built-in warnings that keep us aware of potential threats. We have our conscience, our friends, our family, and others. We learn quickly that we cannot heed every small “alarm” that is triggered by these safeguards; there are simply too many. But when a barrage of alerts come all warning of the same misfortune, wisdom begs a listening ear. Be it spiritual or social, academic or professional, physical or emotional, we have “built-in safeguards” to protect us. If we do not pay them heed, what end do they serve?

Current Events: The Programmers or the Programmed?

It would seem that in the technological age “all-at-once” isn’t sufficient. Go read the headlines. You thought Google had it all? Now there is a search engine that understands “plain English” instead of just keywords. And in case you’re still not getting “all news all the time”, know that the New York Times just stopped charging for online access to articles for as far back as 1851. But the greatest surprise is for you older folks.

I was mildly amused when my girlfriend, Sarah, told me her mom had set up a Facebook account to keep tabs on Sarah’s brothers. I didn’t think the older generation were up to date with online social networking. Apparently I was wrong. According to a recent article in the New York Times, “the number of Internet users who are older than 55 is roughly the same as those who are aged 18 to 34.” And they want to “Facebook”, too.

Though investors realize that this new audience is “harder to attract”, the older generation is proven to be “more durable and sticky over time.” Even if social networking sites aimed at baby boomers don’t turn out to be the greatest investment, it is nevertheless uncharted territory; the world of technology is yet to prove itself capable of leaving any rock unturned when it comes to entrepreneurship. And though it seems silly, such appears to be the case.

Already tens of millions of dollars are “going into the space” and yet doubt still exists as to whether the interest exists on the part of the “graying computer users” to justify such an investment. Don’t misinterpret my hesitation to grant my parent’s generation their share of “internet fun”; I would love to see them evermore socially connected. But it goes to show that technological exploration is ruthlessly filling every niche it can find, even before we can decide if we want it or need it. It hardly seems that we use judgement anymore to make these decisions; the programmers have become the programmed.

Technology and the Church: Which Came First?

Mankind has a notion that with time comes authority and respect. With time the influence of an event or person is given the opportunity to have its full effect. We are hesitant to give credit where credit may not be due, and as the proverb goes, “only time will tell.”

Perhaps for this reason, we hesitate to realize the full implications of the strength of the Church of Jesus Christ in our own time. We base our teachings on ancient scripture. We revere the pioneers and early Christians as optimal examples of true believers. We give upmost priority to genealogy work. Our very concept of self-worth derives from the events in the Garden of Eden and the Preexistence. And yet despite this focus on the past, the kingdom of God on earth is larger now and stronger now than it has ever been in the history of the world.

There are over 12 million members, most of whom are striving and succeeding despite great adversity to live the gospel. For the first time we spread over almost the entire globe. Until this dispensation, the gospel was limited to a single people, country, or, at most, hemisphere. Now it is in over one hundred languages and there is every intention to see that this trend continues.

How? Technology. The organization necessary, the centralized leadership, and the magnitude of resources required are only now realized by means of computers, global networks, and revolutionary software. Called to mind is a scene from the film The Other Side of Heaven, when a young successful missionary is chastised for neglecting to keep organized the records of his work, “The Lord’s is a house of order, Elder,” the Mission President reminds. Without order, the church does not grow. Period.

Without technology, an organization (the word itself implying order) of such vast size cannot be kept in order. It is beyond important. It is vital. That this Work and this technology have emerged simultaneously in the timeline of history is miraculous in more ways than are here able to be treated. It demands that each member of the church decides for himself or herself if the miracle is the growth in the Lord’s Plan because of technology or if it is the growth in technology because of the Lord’s plan.

The Digital Age: For All or One?

We talk of infinite languages, languages that are made up of an infinite number and combination of strings. In a world where information is so abundant and ever-growing, the temptation is to think that our goal and our success is in finding something new and undiscovered to add to that massive body of data. The more important objective, however, is not to find what is new to the world, but what is new to us. “We have thousands of times more available information than Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. Yet which of us would think ourselves a thousand times more educated or more serviceable to our fellowmen than they? … Theirs was the wise and inspired use of a limited amount of information,” says Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Is our life’s purpose so great that the tools that we need to succeed are yet to be revealed to mankind?

In the Book of Mormon, the Lord refutes this rumor. In 2 Nephi 2: 27 it says, “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.” Like Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln, our task is to take what has been given us and find within that collection of knowledge the bits and pieces that will help formulate a convincing thesis from the story of our lives.

In this same vein, the ultimate case scenario is the atonement. For me to change my ways and conform my life to the teachings of Christ is no original concept. It has been done thousands of times over. But in making his ways Gods ways, man has yet to understand that it is the worth of one soul that is great in the sight of God. Not all of the souls of our collective society, but of the individuals. That there are those who rise far above the rest in achievements and recognition, He cares not; that there are those who are not making it, who are surrounded by knowledge and truth and are yet kept from it because they know not where or how to find it - these are those for whom God worries. The power is there, the knowledge is there, it has been employed seemingly to exhaustion, but until the atonement finds fulfillment in the life of the individual, it has yet to serve its highest of purposes.

Such is the case with all of life, of knowledge, of wisdom. In the words of McLuhan, this is an age of “all-at-onceness”; but for each individual, finding the purpose, the meaning, and the focus - that still takes a lifetime.

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