Corel WordPerfect

When speaking of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of all mankind, Hebrews 10:14 (MSG) states..."It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people." Hearing that verse in the audiobook devotion to which my wife and I listened this morning made me think of another scripture. John 1:1, 14 (NIV)..."In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." Not only are those two passages very powerful and promising, but together they bring back memories of a special time in my life.

Amid the struggles of the current pandemic, it seems appropriate to think back to another horrific time in America. The year was 2011! The tragic occurrences of 9-11 temporarily interrupted the start of the best years of my educational career. Just a couple of months before that infamous day and with my wife's encouragement and support, I was hired as an assistant professor of education at Martin Methodist College (MMC) in Pulaski, TN.

After teaching high school English for 10 years and serving as a school administrator for 14 more, I was ready for a change. I found a near-perfect fit in the next 16 years at MMC. Today I look back after the first three years of my retirement and remember many of the joys and challenges of that transition into higher education. One major change that I resisted for quite a long time is the topic of this short blog.

Do you remember your first word processor? I had been using Corel WordPerfect as my word processor of choice for over a decade ever since joining the cyber generation in the Nineties. As far as I could tell, I was the only professor at MMC who wasn't using Microsoft Word. That posed lots of communication issues. As much as I might have hoped, the others weren't going to make any change to help the new guy. Believe me I tried to persuade them. It was my opinion that WordPerfect was much more user friendly. Being the new kid on the block with no seniority, I convinced no one. After a few years of muddling through, I finally made the transition to Word. It wasn't easy or fun. But this aging dog learned all those new tricks.

I am still using Microsoft Word. WordPerfect seems like an old friend I haven't seen for 15 years. I still spend lots of quality time in God's Perfect Word. If Corel WordPerfect were thrust upon me today, I wouldn't have a clue where to begin that new relationship.