Potential...

Have you ever looked at something and thought about all of the potential that it has? I'm not sure why, but earlier today while working I started to think about this - about how everyday, simple objects have enormous potential, both for good or evil.

I first noticed a pen that was sitting on the counter. It was a cheap one, I think it was a black Bic - without its cap of course. Now, its purpose on the counter was to be used by customers as they signed their credit card receipts before they left smiling with their new sound equipment. But I started to ponder the potential of a pen - how this instrument had been used by a judge to sign the sentence for a man's execution - it had also been used by a governor to pardon another man destined to die in a chair. Or how the pen has been used by "holy men of God were moved by the holy spirit" to write out the words, sentences, and paragraphs that would later become the Bible. It can send you straight to prison if you use it to write a threat to someone, or it can brighten a depressed friend's day with just a few strokes. Once The Declaration of Independence was written stating our willingness to fight for our freedom, war was decreed by a few strokes of a pen by the English Monarchy.

As I look at my desk around me - I see so many objects that have the potential for greatness or tragedy - for truth and beauty or lies and crime. I see my wallet, anorexic for quite some time, but always bearing plastic reminders of debt. One impulse, one phone call, one click and bankruptcy could be ours. But the wallet also contains evidence of modern convenience, that there is no danger of being stuck without cash for food or emergencies. I also see my belt (I have no idea why it's on my desk, but anyway), which of course has held my pants in their right place for many years, but it also had a more frightening role in my early upbringing. It was the enforcer of discipline and the threat of punishment.

The computer is probably the grandaddy of this entire conversation (that I hope to have - rather than a monologue). Think about it for a minute. Computers have been used to do advance our culture in so many different ways - science, research, law enforcement, banking, technology, communication, education, etc... Many of us use computers every day to work, write, pay bills, and deepen relationships. But of course this same computer, with a couple of keystrokes can ruin lives, victimize, steal, and exploit.

OK - this post is part one of the bigger point that I want to make... But I want to hear some other ideas and thoughts about this. Look around your house, your room, outside... What are some objects that have the potential for creating pleasure or inducing pain? Can you find significance in the mundane?

In part 2 I will complete my thoughts on this fascinating idea...