English is an evolving language, adding to and dropping from as need demands. In my childhood of WWII days only a few items domestically required the term. “Plug it in” to serve its purpose. Lamps, of course, maybe a drill depending on the man of the household, and the ubiquitous item of day, the iron which also required the reverse statement, “Did you unplug the iron?” Some households moved forward to plug in a coffee pot. I went to college with a drip pot still sitting on the back of the stove. Water was boiled, poured over fresh grounds, and the pot placed in a shallow pan of warm water to keep the brew ready for a hot cup during the day. Oh, yes, the washing machine stayed at ready alert from the day of purchase unless protection was thought necessary during a summer thunder storm. No drier was required because the clothes line was in the back yard. The black phone with a dial needed electricity after you got an account, yet the word for its being in use was connected.
Just as I was ready to move on and update, the radio came to mind. A large, almost piece of furniture, was in the living room for news and evening programs. The one that counted was the small aqua one in the kitchen for morning weather and the update of police reports. Sandwich in a phonograph and then the explosion starts. Televisions moved into the home. College made me aware of various a.v. equipment, some that worked as touted and some that didn’t. An electric typewriter did not really improve my keyboarding skills, only revealed my mistakes more rapidly. Now, a current seven year old could add to the list devices I can’t imagine that go beyond computer and cell phone. These require words like reboot and charge and link and SIM cards to make them useful on the beach or in outer space.
And yet, behind all this, is our wonderful God-made machine, body and soul. Even for us, the words of plug it in or connect or recharge count when we do not have the energy for that productive activity required of us. What helps us restart varies. Turn off concern, worry, and disconnects by rebooting, resting, and starting afresh. Find the listening or reading that redirects your program to be useful again. Sometimes trust another person who sees a needed solution and can rewire a system to help us become at least a refurbished B. When total frustration takes over, go back to the source of unlimited power.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Ephesians 3:20
Let Me Tell Ya 