Fair Well MS DOS - Bruce Atchison

Like many older folks, I began using MS DOS back in the early nineties. Learning its commands was difficult but I managed to do so. At the time, I bought WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS because my IBM clone didn't have enough memory to run Windows 3.1. There also weren't screen readers capable of operating in Windows at that time.

My old PCs and WordPerfect served me well for more than fifteen years. With both tools, I wrote many freelance articles and my three books.

Until XP, I felt that Windows was too unstable to rely upon, especially Windows 98. It was the worst operating system I ever used.

Recently, I find myself relying more on Windows-based programs for my writing. This is because converting from ASCII text to .DOC or .RTF files is a bit of a chore. I had to spend time tidying up improper carriage returns and line breaks. Even WordPerfect 12 for Home was somewhat clunky, in my estimation of course.

As time goes by, I find myself using old technology less and less. I now write with a Windows-based program called Jarte and I store files on USB drives rather than floppy disks. Since the new PCs come without floppy drives, I use an external drive if I do need to read from that old format.

In a similar way, I'm learning new things about our Lord. I've unlearned old ideas which I was taught at a toxic house church. I now know the heavenly Father much better than I once did. This has made a powerful difference in how I pray and study. God isn't the miserly being I once assumed he was. The Holy Spirit is a person and not, as the wicked house church leader taught, composed of departed saints. And Jesus isn't alone in the Godhead as that blasphemous leader claimed.

I now understand that  providence is far more miraculous than the miracles Jesus and his followers performed. So many divergent factors must line up in order for God's will to be done.

Though I still love MS DOS and WordPerfect 5.1, I have grown to enjoy the new technology. In the same way, I no longer view God as somebody to whom I must beg for blessings. Neither do I worry about having enough faith power to satisfy him. Just knowing the real characters of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a blessing.