Thursday, March 10, 2016

Email Inventor Ray Tomlinson Dies at 74

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His is not a household name, but many of us use his most well-known creation every day. We're talking about Ray Tomlinson, who invented email and in the process selected the @ symbol to indicate that a message should be sent to a different computer on a network. He died March 5 of a suspected heart attack, at age 74.
In 1971, Tomlinson was an engineer at the Boston firm Bolt, Beranek and Newman, now known as BBN Technologies. The Internet as such did not yet exist, but its predecessor ARPAnet did, and Tomlinson had been assigned to figure out something useful to do with it.
BBN was already working on ways humans and computers could interact, but Tomlinson started thinking about how computers might assist interaction between humans -- specifically with distant colleagues who didn't answer their phones.
His first experiments involved sending messages between two computers in his office. "The keyboards were about 10 feet apart," he told NPR in a 2009 interview. "I could wheel my chair from one to the other and type a message on one, and then go to the other, and then see what I had tried to send."
In the same interview, Tomlinson said he didn't remember the content of the first successfully sent message, indicating that since it was a test, it was probably just gibberish or possibly phrases from the Gettysburg Address.
While setting protocols for emailing, Tomlinson picked the @ symbol from the keyboard of his Model 33 Teletype machine to separate the names of senders and recipients from the names of their computers and to effectively turn an email address into a phrase that means "user 'at' host." Up until then, the @ was a seldom-used character, employed mostly by grocers and accountants to indicate a rate or amount of something, but Tomlinson made it point to a location.
He also noted that the @ sign is the "only preposition on the keyboard."
Additionally, Tomlinson led the development of standards for the "to," "from," "subject" and "date" fields routinely used in email messages today.
Tomlinson was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2012.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Applying the News Story
We can use Tomlinson's selection of the @ sign to remind ourselves that where we are "at" in life spiritually, morally, ethically and even socially may not be where God calls us to be "at." Saying it that way is not the smoothest of grammatical constructions, but it gets to the heart of Jesus' call to follow him.
The Big Questions
1. To what degree would you claim the following as your "address": [your name]@WhereChristIs.God? Why? Is @ the primary preposition on the spiritual keyboard? Why or why not?
2. What are some ways to assess how far you are from where Christ calls you to be? Does this assessment allow for a path of return?
3. How much, if any, "distance" from Christ is to be expected because of our humanness? How hard should you work to close the gap and why? How much should our closeness to Christ be made clearer because of our shared humanness?
4. What are some ways to close the gap, and who does the closing -- you, Christ or both? Explain your answer.
5. When have you seen someone's life dramatically turn around because of receiving Christ? What convinced you that the change was real?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Jonah 1:3 
But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. 
Jonah 2:1
Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish .... (For context, read 1:1--2:1.)
In Jonah's story, what happened between these two verses is significant. He went overboard in his efforts to run from where God wanted him to go (or to be "at") and ended up in a whale of a mess. Down in the mouth about the whole experience, Jonah, in "the belly of the fish," at last prayed.
There's a cartoon that shows Jonah, looking wet and bedraggled, holding a lit torch and looking at a map posted on the inner wall of the great fish's belly. The map is of the fish's digestive system, and there is an "X" at one spot with words next to it that read, "You are here." While that's humorous, it also conveys that Jonah recognizes the distance between where he is and where God is. The fact that he prays while in the fish, shows that he realizes he has to turn back toward life, where God is.
Jonah's prayer in Jonah 2 doesn't show much evidence of repentance, but the fact that he prays at all shows that he knows his only hope of deliverance is from getting back to where God is "at."
One interesting thing about Jonah's prayer is that despite his distance from God, his past associations with his faith allowed him to recall, imperfectly, fragments from Psalms that he weaves together into one prayer. In a radio interview back in the '80s, a Vietnam POW told how he and his fellow prisoners used to tap what they thought were remembered scriptures to each other for strength and spiritual support. On further questioning, some of those "scriptures" turned out to be hymn texts.
Questions: When have you felt far away from where Christ calls you to be? When have you felt slightly distant from where Christ calls you to be? What did you do to correct that?
To what degree does our shared memory of Bible verses, hymns, poems and proverbs help us remain anchored to God even when we have strayed? Can they be like bread crumbs that guide us on our path of return?
Luke 15:17-20 
But when he came to himself he said, "How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.'" So he set off and went to his father. (For context, read 15:11-32.)
These verses are from Jesus' well-known parable of the Prodigal Son, and they tell of the son's recognition in the far country that where he was "at" wasn't where he needed to be in relation to where his father was.
For that matter, neither was the elder son who had stayed home. Physically he was near his father, but there was a huge gap between his attitude toward his prodigal brother and his father's attitude toward the prodigal.
TWW team member Micah Holland comments, "The father met both sons in the midst of their failures. He received the son who left as he was coming back home, running to him, and he went to the elder son as that son left the party and refused to participate. Both sons were lost and the father engaged them in the middle of their lostness." Or, we could say, the father (who, let's remember, is a stand-in for God), engaged both sons where they were "at."
TWW team member Edward Hortsch, who is involved in a prison ministry, comments, "This is often what I tell inmates when I visit at our local jail. God meets us where we are."
Questions: When have you been aware of Christ breaking into your life to meet you where you were? In what sense is moving yourself to where Christ is a homecoming?
When have you, as a prodigal, experienced an eagerness on the part of family, the church or God to rush and meet you after you resolved to return? Have you, conversely, felt some people put up barriers and did not greet you gladly?
Titus 3:3-6 
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior …. (For context, read 3:1-8.)
Here's the apostle Paul describing the "before" and "after" condition of believers, Note that he doesn't talk about people moving toward God but of God making the first move, pouring out "the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit … through Jesus Christ our Savior."
Questions: Through what means does God speak to you? When have you heard the Spirit but resisted the call? What happened? What did you learn?
Ephesians 2:8 
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God ....(For context, read 2:1-10.)
John 8:10-11 
Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again." (For context, read 8:1-11.)
In the Ephesians text, Paul reminds us that getting to where God wants us to be "at" is not our own doing; "it is the gift of God."
The John 8 verses are from the account of the scribes and Pharisees bringing a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, asking him to say what should be done with her. In the end, he doesn't condemn her but does tell her not to sin again.
TWW team member Mary Sells recommended both of these passages for this lesson, saying, "I was looking for verses where God shows and says he loves us 'where we are at,' not because we deserve it."
Sells goes on to say, "I participated in a year-long spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius in everyday life, which is preceded by a few weeks of scripture and prayer to understand the nature of God loving us as we are, where we are at. The process is to open oneself to being a 'loved sinner,' that God loves us despite our intentional and unintentional imperfections. If we do not accept that God can love even us, we may never really accept that Jesus came and died and rose for love of us."
Questions: Do you believe God loves you even if where you are spiritually, morally, ethically, socially or in some other way might not be where he calls you to be? How does the conviction that he loves you steadfastly help you? Does it ever cause you to put off moving closer to him?
John 14:3 
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. (For context, read 14:1-6.)
Here Jesus is talking about eternal life, and in line with our @ theme today, we might paraphrase his words as "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am at, there you may be at also."
While today's lesson focuses on where we are in this life in relation to where Christ is, eternal life is the ultimate "at" that Christ offers us.
Questions: To what degree does the promise of eternal life inform your decisions in this life? Why?
For Further Discussion
1. Respond to this, from TWW team member Mary Harriet Talbut: "I think about the impact email has had on me, my job and my life. But also, it has allowed a conversation between my mother and her grandchildren. They would not sit and write a long letter sent snail mail, or even a short one other than the obligatory thank-you notes. But, they will email and this has brought my mother and me great joy."
2. TWW team member Stan Purdum tells that in one community where he pastored, he talked one day to a woman who had been raised in that church, but had left it before he was assigned there, and she had no intention of returning. Purdum explains, "It wasn't that she'd had a bad experience with the church; it was that she was involved in some things that she considered sinful, and she wasn't willing to turn away from them. I urged her to come to church anyway, for if there is one thing the Bible tells us, it's that God meets us where we are 'at' in our struggles. She didn't come, but I think my response to her was right."
     Do you agree? Was his response right? If not, what would you recommend he should have said instead? Why?
3. Comment on this, also from Stan Purdum: "The overall story that the Bible tells is of humankind losing its home -- that's what the tale about Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden is about -- and about God sending Christ to the world to make it possible for us to return home. The final chapters in Revelation make the point that there is a great homecoming in the future for the faithful. 
     "Though we live in between the ouster from the garden and the entry into God's eternal future, we have a spiritual side to our nature and thus can never be fully at home in this world. The poet William Watson describes this condition as 'world strangeness.' It's a kind of discontent that makes us feel out of harmony with the world. Centuries ago, St. Augustine put it, 'Thou hast made us for thyself alone, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.'"
4. TWW team member Frank Ramirez comments, "I learned how to type as a seventh grader in 1966 at my father's insistence because my handwriting was so bad. My grades improved immediately. I remember seeing that @ key in class on manual typewriters and wondering what use it could possibly be. Now I use it as much as any other character on the keyboard's top row."
     What biblical book, spiritual discipline or method of prayer were you aware of earlier in your life but dismissed as not very useful, is now highly helpful to your spiritual life?
Responding to the News
This is a good time to remind ourselves that even those of us who attend church regularly can be moving away from where God wants us to be "at." God's come-home invitation is not only for obvious sinners, but for all of us. The door is open.
Prayer (from England, 20th century, author unknown)
We confess to you, all-knowing God, what we are. We are not the people we like others to think we are. We are afraid to admit, even to ourselves, what lies in the depths of our souls. But we cannot hide our true selves from you. You know us as we are, and yet you love us. Help us not to shrink from self-knowledge. Teach us to respect ourselves for your sake. Give us the courage to put our trust in your guiding power. Raise us out of the paralysis of guilt into the freedom and energy of forgiven people. And for those who through long habit find forgiveness hard to accept, we ask you to break through their bondage and set them free; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen
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