blog.sinden.org

I was sure that the problem was in my remote. Every now and then, I would aim it at my amplifier and nothing. No volume, no input changes, I couldn't even turn it off. It was frustrating.

But then, after maybe 10-20 minutes, it might start to work again. And I don't mean sporadically, I mean it would work fine. I could adjust the volume with finesse, I could switch input options with precision, and I could turn the whole thing off and on until the cows came home.

I just assumed the problem was in the little plasticky remote. I could have spilled something on it, or something. I don't know. So I got a universal remote.

I was a little flustered at first because none of the codes I had worked with my amplifier. I tried again later in the day, and the first code worked like a charm.

After it had been working for a while, I was showing someone else how to use it. After the tutorial, I desired to adjust the volume, and lo and behold, it failed to affect the amplifier yet again.

That's when I realized that the problem was not in the remote, but in the infared receiver on the amplifier.

Normally I would turn this into a metaphor for our relationship with God, but I'll let you do this. Things to consider: grace, receiving, who's to blame when we don't receive God's freely offered grace? infared as an extra-liturgical color of, like, super-Pentecost . . .