One of our sons, who happens to be a youth pastor, has been on a quest for some time to lessen his dependence on his phone. He got off social media and bought a little bitty phone (everyone is incredulous...this is the son that I least expected to do something like this). What I have seen, over time, is that he is more settled, more intentional, listens better and is more "present" when I talk to him. These are all lovely things. He is there to minister to his family, to his young people. Guess what? His youth group has tripled in size.
This week, I was whining about the burden of social media to our oldest son too... and he said it's a problem for him as well. I said I need to pack it in and get an old-fashioned flip phone. He said, "Let's delete Facebook off our phones right now. We'll do it together. 1-2-3." So while we were sitting there, me in panic mode, we deleted. I felt like my arm had been sawn off. It's been three days and I am starting to think better. I get bored and get to talking to God. I asked my children to send more pictures to my digital frame in the kitchen (I don't know how the magic works, but they email images straight to it. I got at least ten new photos just today). If I'm not staring at their Facebooks, trolling for new pictures of my grandbabies, maybe they can just send them to my kitchen counter. These are also good things.
Is there a wave coming? Today, a dear neighbor visited me on our front porch and said she was leaving her phone all by itself and only checking it in the morning and at night. We had over two hours of prime conversation, but my phone was buzzing every few minutes. I should have put it inside and we'd have gotten twice as much good content.
What would happen if we had a giant EMP attack that took out the grid, our electricity, our phones, our livelihoods? I might have read one too many doomsday novels, there's that. First off, a lot of us would die, but then people would have to huddle up and figure out how to talk to each other and work together. That's the way communities used to manage, in the old, old days. There was bartering, trading of goods and services, and then just plain looking out for each other. That sounds nice. Then I think of the wild west, where every sin was another opportunity to take advantage of the weak. It was mostly settled, eventually. But those same uncertainties still lurk in all of us. What would you do, to feed your babies, to protect your place? These are not simple questions, but our modern "civilized" society is not a given. We should think on the richer, nobler, sweeter themes that make up a sound village. We need to begin again, to know our neighbors, taking baby steps towards the things we have forgotten (or may have never known). Maybe it's time to bake Mrs. Keener's pound cake and make the rounds around here.
No comments:
Post a Comment