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I didn’t know Rodney Lain well, and only by cyber-acquaintance, however, we were friendly colleagues who corresponded sporadically over the past four years, and I would like to say a few words upon hearing today of Rodney’s tragic passing at his own hand on June 16th.

Rodney and I shared remarkably similar tastes in computers. We both bought 233 MHz WallStreet II PowerBooks at around the same time, and we also both bought G4 Cubes, although Rodney kept his longer than I did mine.

He once wrote:

“Charles, I’m with you.

“I went into debt to buy a PB WallStreet II 233 MHz! And that was after hearing the announcement of the Lombards. Looking into my wallet, I predict it will be several years before I can afford another laptop.

“Apple needs to realize this. You said that the only thing keeping Apple from allowing upgrades to PBs is “policy.” That upsets me to no end.

“They need to realize that not everyone can afford to buy a laptop every six months...

“I realize Apple must make money, but they need to learn to Think Different in terms of how they treat the customer.”

However, Rodney was an indefatigable Mac advocate:

“And best of all, you have been shown the grace to see that Mac is the chosen OS. I’m sure there was something written about that in Daniel 11, or what it Isaiah?. I know Moses was into a lot of RAM and that through the wilderness the children of Israel had unlimited megahurts, but their lives were none the better. Solomon’s Temple was adorned with golden Apples...enough bad puns...

“I’m a Mac zealot. Shalom aleichem. Remember Mac-sada.”

He was also, like me, a PowerBook guy, who affirmed that he loved his PowerBook “with a love that should probably cause my wife great concern.”

When someone asked Rodney whether he thinks they should buy a PowerBook, his stock answer was: “Buy it. You will not regret it.” I agree that that’s a safe generalization.

Rodney, who worked part time at his local CompUSA outlet, related a conversation he had with a prospective PowerBook buyer.

“I will never buy a desktop again, if I get a PowerBook,” the man told him. “I guarantee that you won’t,” Rodney replied. “I don’t plan to.”

(He did though; the Cube reeled him in)

My first encounter with Rodney’s writing was actually an essay he posted in 1998 to theimac.com entitled: “Are all Mac users left-wing Liberals?”

This was a topic that piqued my politics-junkie interest.

“My more conservative, PC-using friends claim that I’m just a wild-eyed liberal in love with a ‘liberal’s computer,’” Rodney lamented, and went on to quote a famous aphorism:  

‘If you’re not a liberal by age 20, you have no heart…
‘If you’re not a conservative by age 40, you have no brain…’

“Many people even go so far as saying that the Mac is a liberal computer (the implied thought being that Liberal is wrong),” Rodney continued. “I’ve often thought of the Mac as a liberal computer myself. Until I started rubbing elbows with a wider variety of Mac users.

“Sure there are many people who choose the Mac because they are left-brained romantics (or is that right-brained?), but I’m seeing that just as many buy Macs after their right-brained analysis (or is that left-brained?) removes any doubt that the Mac is superior to Wintel PC. “

I wrote a reply column for the Mac Times Network, agreeing with him on most points, taking issue with some. He seemed like an interesting dude, so I took the trouble of visiting his Website to find out more about him. One of the things that impressed me immediately was the prominent discussion of religion on the site.

In the many tributes to Rodney that I have read today, there has been little mention of his interest in Christianity, which was something that he and I had in common, so perhaps a role I can fulfill his to address that aspect of Rodney’s life.

I dropped Rodney a line expressing my appreciation of his Christian witness, and invited him to joining the ecumenical Christian email forum that I moderate. My email subject line made some cryptic allusion to Christianity.

He replied:

“I expected a flame here. Some of my most heated exchanges have been with Christians who expect me to toe the theological line...

Well, the fact is that Rodney and I were far apart on many theological issues, and we even locked horns on the topic journalistically. Rodney was a radical Protestant, “Jesus without the Church,” type of Christian, whereas I am a traditionalist, orthodox, Anglican Catholic. However, I both respected and appreciated his willingness to affirm his faith in Jesus publicly, in an era where it is unfashionable to do so, to say the least.

Rodney did join the ecumenical email forum, and wrote in his first posting:

“Greetings, everyone, and thank you to Charles for the invitation to join this list. I’ve only read about five or six posts of the recent thread, but still I’d like to interject a quick reminder to everyone:

“I believe it was C. S. Lewis who once remarked that unless a complicated argument could be simplified to appeal to the average person, the chances were great that the one doing the explaining did not understand it either. That demand is a difficult one to meet but is a needed reminder.”
--Ravi Zacharias, _Can Man Live without God?_, page 10, paperback version

“Not all of us are seminary graduates, so I ask that we keep the parlance to a level more suited to general audiences (at least sometimes, anyway :-).

“I think that is all I will say today. I am a ‘talker,’ and will join in the discussions later, after I feel that I have a contribution that is worthy of presenting to you guys.

“My creed: I believe in one God. I am non-denominational, so I adhere to no singular Christian tradition, but I do follow the example of the man I call Joshua Ben Adam -- the man you know as Jesus of Nazareth.

“I look forward to the discussion.

“Lurking...

“Rodney O. Lain
somewhere in Minnesota...”

In another posting, he wrote”

“Why is it that we Christians only focus on the negative in society? Did Jesus of Nazareth focus on the negative?

“Are we personally doing anything to make the world a better place?

“If so, then do more of that, instead of griping on the ‘Net so much...”

However, those remarks about griping and seminary graduates were portentous, and I think Rodney found the emphasis on sometimes grumpy academic discussions of theology a bit dull, and after six months or so, he unsubscribed.

Rodney’s personal Christian credo is still posted on his iBrotha the Web site, and reads in part:

“Throughout my short life, I have sought the Answer. The Answer to life. To death. To pain. To suffering. To frustration. And I’ve found the Answer. The panacea. The end-all and the be-all. The Alpha and the Omega.

“It’s Jesus.

“But not the Jesus you’ve been taught about. I’m talking about the Jesus best represented by Jesus in the Christian Bible. The “eating and drinking” man. The man who ate with sinners; the prostitutes, the whores, the lepers, the tax collectors.

“This represents a God who favors no one.”

Rodney was also a columnist here at Applelinks for a time, a and we had this exchange when he joined the staff:

Charles: Delighted to have you aboard at Applelinks. Loved your first column.

Rodney: I had fun writing it...

Charles: John Farr will wonder if Christians are taking over the site!

Rodney: Maybe he’ll covert by osmosis?

Rodney from time to time would email a few lines expressing appreciation of something I wrote that he liked especially, and I reciprocated.

A typical exchange:

From: Rodney Lain

“Interesting comments on extended warranties...

“Since I have to hold my nose and sell extended warranties at CompUSA (I’m the lowest “low-pressure” salesman around), you make Apple’s very appealing -- even to a cynic like me.

“Thanks for a great and informative read.”

I replied:

“Thanks Rodney;

“Coming from you the compliment carries a lot of weight.

“I got flamed a bit from readers who thought I was too rough on the AppleCare warranty.

“Best,
Charles”

Rodney was never one to shy away from sensitive and controversial issues, so I’ll not dishonor his memory by wimping out on addressing the manner of his death. In a column he wrote early last year, Rodney broached the issue himself.

“If I commit suicide, will I go to hell?”

That is now between him and God. In Catholic Christian belief, Suicide is a mortal sin.

However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, at article 2283, says:

“We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to Him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance.”

Jesus said:

Rodney Lain confessed Jesus before men.

Wherever Rodney is today, I hope that he has found the peace that eluded him in this life.

Requiescat in pace, Rodney.

Charles W. Moore

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