How's your posture?

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

—Colossians 3:1-2 

“Feet flat…back straight…elbows by your side…fingers on the home keys…body centered on the “J” key…eyes on copy,” I reminded as I milled around the classroom monitoring my students’ keyboarding posture.

That was then—when the school of thought was that “proper” posture would result in greater keyboarding speed and fewer errors. But this is now—and things have changed. Most of my current students have been tapping on electronic devices since they were toddlers. They have their own technique down pat.  Some are faster at typing out a message with just two fingers than I am with two hands. To have them learn touch-typing at this stage would only result in frustration for all parties. As such, keyboarding class has become obsolete.

But when I did teach keyboarding, I covered my classroom walls with “Cartoons on Keyboard Basics” (published by J. Weston Walch). These cartoons featured Pretzel Patty, Peekin’ Pete, Side-Saddle Sig, Stop-and-Go-Sandy and several other characters whose keyboarding posture was substandard.

Pretzel Patty liked to cross her feet at the ankles or the knees. This caused too much weight to fall on her pelvic area and she lost stability. Keeping her feet flat on the floor would have braced her body for the work her fingers were doing.

Peekin’ Pete couldn’t keep his eyes on his copy and lost momentum every time he had to find his place again.

Side-Saddle Sig liked to sit sideways, which made him more susceptible to errors for his fingers could easily slip off the home keys.

And Stop-and-Go-Sandy…well, I bet you can guess what her problem was. Yes, she took too many breaks. If she just kept going, she certainly would have made more progress.

While these cartoon posters have made their way to the trash, the truth in their arguments remains. Proper posture cuts down on errors. Allow my former students to explain.

One of their assignments was to re-create the cartoon posters—to rename the characters and depict them as they demonstrated proper posture.

Pretzel Patty became Perfect Posture Patty. Peekin’ Pete was renamed Focused Freddy. Side-Saddle Sig became Sit Square Sam. And Stop-and-Go Sandy‘s new moniker was Go-Go Gail. These transformed characters demonstrated the “Keys to Success” (gotta love that play on words!) such as:

·         Keep your feet flat on the ground.

·         Keep your eyes on the copy.

·         Keep your body centered on the “J” key.

·         Keep going.

As Christians, our posture toward the Lord has a lot to do with our success.

 ·      Keeping our feet flat on the ground means we are grounded in His Word. We meditate on it daily. We are like the one the psalmist describes as “a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:3). Keeping our feet flat on the ground keeps us balanced. 

 ·      Keeping our eyes on our copy is fixing our focus on Jesus. If we want to be like Him—to copy Him, we must look to Him, study Him. The writer of Hebrews explains:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”—Hebrews 12:1-2

When we take our eyes off Him—our copy, our progress slows down, for it takes time to find our place again.

 ·      Keeping centered on the “J” key means Jesus is the center of our life. Nothing is more important. All of our decisions are made in accordance with His will and are aimed to glorify Him.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”—Matthew 6:33

If we do not sit squarely, we may find ourselves like the lukewarm Church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22)—in a dangerous position, vulnerable to slipping from our true home, our true love.

 ·      To keep going is to “run in such a way that you may obtain the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). You keep going, no matter what. You go in the strength of the Lord (Psalm 71:16), trusting He is with you all the way (Deuteronomy 31:6).

The cartoon characters got a name change to reflect their positive practice, and so did bible characters when they exercised their faith. Abram became Abraham, also known as the Father of Faith. Sarai became Sarah. Jacob became Israel. And Saul became Paul.

When we exercise our faith and accept Christ as Savior, our old life becomes obsolete and a new creation emerges (2 Corinthians 5:17). And we get a new name too to go with our new life—Christian.  May we wear the name well, by following Paul’s positioning instructions:

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”—Colossians 3:1-2

Technology evolves and so does our faith when our hearts and minds are positioned toward Him.

How’s your posture today? If you’re like me, it’s not perfect. But the good news is we have a Master Teacher. And if we are open to instruction, He will lead us to become top models (Psalm 25:4-5).

Dear God, thank You for the instructions in Your Word and the stories of heroes who demonstrated great faith. May I become more like them. More like Abraham who kept following Your lead and less like Stop-and-Go-Sandy. More like Go-Go Paul who pressed toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). May my faith grow as I go-go toward You. And God…thank You for the touch-typing technique, for it sure is helping me “press on” toward the goal. Amen.