Technology for old folks

My wife and I both became Christians back in about 1974 in the Sandhills of Nebraska. I was hunting coyotes, and she was doing dishes. After that we'd load up on Sunday morning, Marge and Vic and I, and head the 18 miles to church. Most Sundays I'd load my rifle, a .220 Swift, and take it with me just in case we saw a coyote on the way. We usually got there early, but the Pastor Rev Verneda Brown would be there. She was a mighty fine preacher. We enjoyed church.

So we both began to read the Bible and study the best we could. Back then we were using the King James version of the Bible. We had a friend, the Rev. Tom Cobb, help me get a Thompson Chain Reference Bible. It was what I needed. But it was at least 8-by-10 or 8-by-12 inches big. It was all right to read and use at home and at church but way too big to pack on a horse or a tractor. So Marge and I found me about a 3-by-7-inch New Testament with a plastic cover that would fit in the breast pocket of my western shirts. Perfect. Print was small, but I had young eyes.

So when I was riding horseback or driving a tractor or fencing using an International H with a wagon, I could pack my bible. So I'd work a while, and when I'd take a break I could read a few verses. Worked perfect. One day I stopped at a windmill to get a drink, leaned over to sip some water from the well pipe and out slipped my New Testament from my shirt pocket into the water tank. It floated so I fetched it dripping wet. Took a good while to dry the pages and keep them from sticking together, but eventually it did.

Fast forward from the early 1970s to about 1990. I ended up with a small pocket personal electronic assistant. I don't have a clue where I got it, but if I'm guessing it was a gift. It was kind of like a day/date keeper if you will or daily planner. But one thing I really liked about the little planner was it had the NIV Bible on it. Back then I'd read the Bible and do searches and such on this little pocket assistant. But something went sideways in it, and it quit. Bummer. I really missed that little gizmo.

Fast forward to today. Several years ago I had cataract surgery, and I had to decide whether I wanted to see up close or in the distance so I chose in the distance. Up until then all I had to do was take my glasses off where I was near sighted, and I could read the smallest of print. Now, after surgery, I can see in the distance and do almost everything without glasses except read small print. So we bought a large print Bible, and I can read it pretty good even without my glasses, but it's a large thick Bible. I don't ride horses, but I do ride my side by side and our old MF135 and sit in the woods with a coffee, so I needed a take along Bible.

So I got to wondering if I could get the NIV Bible on my cell phone. We both have an older IPhones. Did some checking and sure enough I could get it free. Marge put the first version on my phone, and it worked pretty slick. I could pick the book of the Bible I wanted to read and the chapter and right there it was. It also keeps track of what I read daily, so I know when I've read the entire Bible. Neat.

I find this little electronic Bible is super neat, but it isn't like holding a leather Bible and opening the pages and reading. But it is really handy. I take my phone most mornings and sit at the picnic table and have a coffee and read. The other morning it was 31 degrees, wind was blowing but that electronic Bible still worked just fine along with my coffee.