The Death of the Sword Drill

I've taken a small break from my Ice Breaker series to bring you to discuss a very serious topic with you.  It is something I've recently realized and I want to bring important intention to this huge issue.

The internet has killed the Sword Drill.

It is part of my day job to stay on top of trends when it comes to video games, mobile technology and the general state of the internet.  The existence of those three things has kept me employed for the last 5 years.  A major theme that I keep running into is how the internet and mobile technology are continuing to destroy traditional old world business.  In the late 90s we saw the upheaval of the music industry with the invention of Napster, which completely changed the way people obtain and consume music.  Most recently we’ve seen the print industry take a hard hit, with many major newspapers losing money and declaring bankruptcy.   I know for myself the last time I read a paper was probably killing time on an airplane and soon every plane will have wifi access, so that won’t last much longer.

With the invention of smart phones and the internet it has silently taken out this great heritage.  It has been silently killed over the last decade and no one has seemed to notice.   Yes, the sword drill.  It has been dying without fanfare in the background, lost in the sea of iPhones and Androids.  People no longer have to know the books of the Bible, they don’t even have to know the order anymore.  You can now just sort the list alphabetically if you’d like.  This current generation will never know what it was like to hold that 300lbs family bible in the air, the blood slowly draining from your tiny little hands waiting for the Sunday school teacher to yell out “John 3:16”.   Everybody mad scrambling to find the right John in the New Testament.  The really keener kid had a sticky note attached to the page already, a couple of kids try and start saying it from memorization, but that just turns into a shouting match on who can get it out first.  Then the sunday school teacher politely reminds us we must FIND it first, the room then goes quiet for a few more seconds before Johnny finds it.  Kid you were amazing, Johnny has already collected Halloween Harvest Festival levels of candy on his chair from being quick with his mind and fingers.  You will be missed too Johnny.

Those days are gone and no one is talking about it.  The internet is a silent killer, and it has put the sword drill to death Dexter style.  The internet just destroys, and sometimes we aren't even aware of everything it is killing.  No where did I put my felt board baby Jesus?

Ryan Filsinger is a husband, father, hockey lover, video game producer and aspiring social architect.  He has been in part time youth ministry for the last six years in Charlottetown, PEI.  You can find him on twitter @rfilsinger or read his rarely updated blog at www.filsinger.org