I will apologize in advance. I am going to have a little rant this morning. About white boards.
I have despised the things ever since they began to be used by most churches. What I don't like about them may not bother you a bit, but please hear me out. You may never have considered some of these things, and while I understand that my vision is completely different from 95% of the rest of you, I do know that other people have these issues to some extent.
First there is often a glare as they reflect the overhead lighting. That glare can obliterate parts of the board completely, a different part for each person, depending upon where he sits in the room. You must admit, a blackboard doesn't do that.
Second, there is another glare issue involved in a white background. If the letters are not thick and bold, the white part of the board will "bleed over" and cover them entirely, especially as we sore-eyed people have to squint against all that bright, uncompromising WHITE. This time, I admit that may only be my problem because of the many hours of surgery I have endured with my eyes taped open under bright lights. For me and maybe others who have had even a couple of eye surgeries, white letters on a black background (like a blackboard) is the easier way for me to see what you have written because the background isn't so glaring. And I assume you do want me to see it since you took the trouble to write it down.
Third, the dry erase markers produce such a narrow line that they can only be seen a few feet away—unless you have excellent vision. For me, white chalk on a blackboard adds a good five or six feet to my vision. In a classroom that's a lot.
Fourth, those pretty colored markers diminish the ease of seeing the letters by about 50%. Don't ask me why, but colored chalk on a blackboard doesn't cause the same issue. If you simply must use a white board, please throw away those colored markers! I don't care how pretty it is—I care if I can see it.
And fifth, erasing those markers takes a lot of elbow grease sometimes. If you use the colored ones, sometimes they will never disappear. A blackboard? Well, you will occasionally have to go beat the erasers out and rinse off the board, but most of the time you can never tell what was written before once it has been erased.
But that brings up the lesson for today. The white board I have to use at the Ladies' Class these days is no longer white. I can even tell what a teacher wrote last year because I see the faint shadow of the letters. Yes, we have cleaned it. Three of us have sprayed on that special cleaner and scrubbed till our arms ached, each trying to show the other one it can be done. Guess what? It can't!
When we forgive, we have a tendency to forgive like a white board erases. That faint little marking is still clear enough in our minds to keep the memory fresh and easily brought back to life. "I'll never forget when she…" some might say, and there you see it—the shadows on the white board that are still there. "There he goes--again…" others might say, and we see that their so-called forgiveness was a sham.
God doesn't forgive that way. When he wipes the slate clean, it is completely bare—no faint markings or shadowy blurs, no chalk dust, nothing remaining at all. Except when we don't forgive. Then we have this promise: For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing (Matt 6:14-15).
White boards—I hate them! But they do this one thing very well—they teach me how to forgive.
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (Isa 1:18).
Dene Ward
I have despised the things ever since they began to be used by most churches. What I don't like about them may not bother you a bit, but please hear me out. You may never have considered some of these things, and while I understand that my vision is completely different from 95% of the rest of you, I do know that other people have these issues to some extent.
First there is often a glare as they reflect the overhead lighting. That glare can obliterate parts of the board completely, a different part for each person, depending upon where he sits in the room. You must admit, a blackboard doesn't do that.
Second, there is another glare issue involved in a white background. If the letters are not thick and bold, the white part of the board will "bleed over" and cover them entirely, especially as we sore-eyed people have to squint against all that bright, uncompromising WHITE. This time, I admit that may only be my problem because of the many hours of surgery I have endured with my eyes taped open under bright lights. For me and maybe others who have had even a couple of eye surgeries, white letters on a black background (like a blackboard) is the easier way for me to see what you have written because the background isn't so glaring. And I assume you do want me to see it since you took the trouble to write it down.
Third, the dry erase markers produce such a narrow line that they can only be seen a few feet away—unless you have excellent vision. For me, white chalk on a blackboard adds a good five or six feet to my vision. In a classroom that's a lot.
Fourth, those pretty colored markers diminish the ease of seeing the letters by about 50%. Don't ask me why, but colored chalk on a blackboard doesn't cause the same issue. If you simply must use a white board, please throw away those colored markers! I don't care how pretty it is—I care if I can see it.
And fifth, erasing those markers takes a lot of elbow grease sometimes. If you use the colored ones, sometimes they will never disappear. A blackboard? Well, you will occasionally have to go beat the erasers out and rinse off the board, but most of the time you can never tell what was written before once it has been erased.
But that brings up the lesson for today. The white board I have to use at the Ladies' Class these days is no longer white. I can even tell what a teacher wrote last year because I see the faint shadow of the letters. Yes, we have cleaned it. Three of us have sprayed on that special cleaner and scrubbed till our arms ached, each trying to show the other one it can be done. Guess what? It can't!
When we forgive, we have a tendency to forgive like a white board erases. That faint little marking is still clear enough in our minds to keep the memory fresh and easily brought back to life. "I'll never forget when she…" some might say, and there you see it—the shadows on the white board that are still there. "There he goes--again…" others might say, and we see that their so-called forgiveness was a sham.
God doesn't forgive that way. When he wipes the slate clean, it is completely bare—no faint markings or shadowy blurs, no chalk dust, nothing remaining at all. Except when we don't forgive. Then we have this promise: For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing (Matt 6:14-15).
White boards—I hate them! But they do this one thing very well—they teach me how to forgive.
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (Isa 1:18).
Dene Ward
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