At the opening assembly of a conference for Christian writers, everyone was asked to read a portion of scripture from which the keynote speaker would be basing his remarks.

I bent down to retrieve my brown canvas bag, which matched every other brown canvas bag in the room, and withdrew my Bible. Straightening back up I found myself awash in a sea of blue and green LED lights.  

Throughout the room people were using cell phones to access the Word of God! A man to my right moved his hand across the face of his cell phone with the speed and dexterity of an interpreter for the deaf. Other conferees had touched colored icons and settled back into their seats awaiting the speaker’s remarks as I flipped past Philippians on my way to Paul’s instructions to Timothy.

I kept my head down, read along with everyone else and felt as old as Methuselah.  At the end of the reading iPhones and Droids blinked off around me like lightening bugs at a fourth of July picnic and slid effortlessly into pockets and purses while I re-stuffed Genesis to Revelation back into the folds of brown canvas and reminded myself, “Thou shalt not covet they neighbors goods.”

Home again after an exhilarating week of techniques, tips and networking that were sure to catapult me to publication and award winning status in twelve months or less, I shared the awe of the blue/green glow with my husband and said I thought perhaps I should I have a phone like that too.  He, who still has difficulty selecting cell phone rather than home phone numbers from a contact list, had the nerve to look at me and say, in all seriousness, “But honey, then you would have to learn how to use it”.  

I let it go but, a few months later when one of the grandkids asked if my flip-open cell phone was a “Jitter Bug”, I revisited the idea of a phone with “apps” (applications) only to be reminded our cell phone contract does not run out for another year.  At first I was very disappointed but, upon further consideration, now feel waiting a year may be a good thing.  This way I will have lots of time to study how to use an iPhone and will have ample opportunity to stop by the cell phone store to hone my skills on their demos before taking the plunge.

In the meantime, the Bible has lots of “apps” for me to touch on and use daily. The book of Proverbs contains page after page of “apps” for living as a follower of Christ and I do not have to wait for a 3G iPhone to begin using them.  Here are just a few:  “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions”.  (10:12)  “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid”. (12:1)  “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm”. (13:20)    

Well, I have to run.  I think I hear my cell phone ringing.  It’s in my purse.  Where is my purse? ...

Email Penny: the bloomlady@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter