Forgot Your Password?

Most of us are familiar with the use of, and need for, password protected accounts and websites. The more we adapt to the technological age, the  greater the need. I keep telling myself that I am going to generate one password for all of my various website accounts; that will make remembering my password simpler. Unfortunately different sites require different combinations of letters, numbers and/or symbols. One account requires the “@” symbol somewhere in my password. Other accounts allow only numbers and letters. One site calls for at least one capital letter; another small caps only. The list of requirements for generating a password for the multitude of websites that require an account and password is varied, to say the least.  With the variation in the requirements for passwords comes a proportionate inability on the part of the account holder to remember a given password for any particular website. Thankfully the gurus who develop those wonderful website accounts that require you “log on” to gain access to your “account,” have also developed a way to recover or reset a password when you forget it. A link is provided next to  the place where you enter your password that, when selected, will take you through a process by which you can eventually get access to your account and reset your password. Most sites are very particular about security, and the difficulty of gaining access to the account increases in proportion to the information stored in that website account. In an effort to cut down on having to use the “Forgot Password” feature, I have developed a little database to keep track of my “username,” “password,” and “website” with which each is associated. Presently I have 123 websites, and with each one an associated “username” and “password” that enables me to access my account information. It is inevitable that, from time to time, I will forget one of those passwords. Last week was one of those occasions when I needed to access a rather insignificant, seldom used, online account. When I attempted to log on, I was told that the password was inaccurate. I checked my database of passwords and tried again. I got the same message: “You have entered either an inaccurate username or password.” After three tries I decided it was time to hit the panic button: “Forgot Your Password?” What unfolded was frustrating, and really quite comical. First, I was asked to provide a means by which a “code” could be sent to me. It could be sent to my phone, or to an email account. I would then take that code and enter it into the blank provided which would then enable me to access my security questions to enter my account—like “What is the name of your oldest sibling?” or “What is your favorite ice cream?” I had the code sent to my email address, returned to my computer website and entered the code. So far so good. My “security question” popped up, and after entering the proper answer to my security question I got this message: “Congratulations, you have answered the question correctly. We need one more thing to guaranty your security. Please enter your old password.” But I did not know my old password! And there next to the instruction to enter my old password was the link: “Forgot Your Password?” I pressed it, and it took me through the same process, arriving at the same point where I was told to enter my old password for security purposes. I’ll tell you now that I never got access to the account; it would be much simpler to just set up another account, with a different user name and password.

The runaround I got in the afore mentioned incident is characteristic of some other things in life. Automated telephone menus are just one example; but I’ll not dwell on that right now. Right now I am thinking of someone who thought life was nothing more than one gigantic runaround: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun? One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place where it ariseth. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to its circuits. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again. All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun (Ecc. 1:1-9). Although Solomon did not have computers, internet, websites, or passwords to remember, I have the feeling that he must have felt the same sense of frustration that often comes with all of these marvelous technological amenities we enjoy when they don’t work as we would like.

Working with people often produces the same kind of frustrations that come with forgetting and/or retrieving passwords for some online account. If you have ever tried to reason with someone caught up in error, and who apparently have no desire to come to a knowledge of the truth, the experience is quite frustrating. You find yourself on a “merry-go-round” of circular reasoning. Paul must have been thinking of the same kind of people when he asked the brethren to pray “that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men” (2 Thess. 3:2). Such people jump from one topic to another, “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Attempting to teach such individuals is like my vain attempt to recover and/or reset my password; I find myself right back where I started, my patience wearing thin.

Evolutionists are often guilty of circular reasoning. A classic example is the evolutionist’s dating of fossils according to the rock strata they are found in, while at the same time dating the strata according to the “index fossils” they contain. Dating a rock based on the fossil it contains only works if it is assumed that evolution is true. As one paleontologist admitted, “For most biologists, the strongest reason for accepting the evolutionary hypothesis is their acceptance of some theory that entails it.”

It is possible that a devoted, faithful child of God can be guilty of circular reasoning. In an attempt to teach a non believer why we believe the Bible is the word of God we might find ourselves thinking, “I believe the Bible is true because the Bible says it is true.” There are plenty of evidences to substantiate the inspiration of the Bible, the existence of God, and the deity of Jesus Christ. In our efforts to reason with the lost, let’s use very precaution to avoid leaving them with the feeling that they are the victims of circular reasoning. Their honest attempt to reset their “password of life” should be answered with a sound and solid “thus saith the Lord.” Peter put it this way: “but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear” (1 Pet. 3:15).