Have You Noticed?
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Have you noticed that the thinner and lighter our televisions get the thicker and heavier we get? Could it be because we sit or lay on the couch with a big plate of something fattening and watching other people exercise?
Have you noticed that the smarter our phones become the dumber we feel? If your cell phone (isn’t that almost a redundant term now- are there still other kinds?) doesn’t surf, chat, facebook, and tweet, or if you don’t even understand what those things mean either, then we both probably have what the suave young salesmen at the wireless store called a “Senior” phone. That’s OK- mine still makes phone calls, which is exactly what I purchased it to do!
Have you noticed that the easier our lives are made by technology, the more complicated, they become? Did I actually see a refrigerator advertised the other day with an inventory touch screen and status monitor in the door? Really- a computer in the refrigerator? And I felt lavishly indulgent with a laptop that could connect to the internet without a cord!
Have you noticed that the more user-friendly something becomes the more hateful it becomes to the user’s wallet? Exactly when was it that “user-friendly” become synonymous with “expensive”? (See again the previous paragraphs!)
Have you noticed that the more our cars do for us the less we can do for them? Is it really true that our cars can now parallel park themselves for us, but we can no longer change the oil in them ourselves? That is, of course, if they still have oil in them.
Have you noticed that the greater the number of the channels on our televisions the fewer the number of them we’re interested in watching? I actually found and enjoyed watching a show the other day about a 154-mile classic tractor ride (perhaps because I grew up on a farm and worked at a tractor auction for about six years). It was really neat to see all of those old tractors again, but don’t even get me started on so-called “reality TV,” which has surely destroyed almost as many brain cells in this country as marijuana!
But all of this isn’t just a feeble attempt at a humorous rant- there actually is a spiritual point or three to be made. It seems the older I get, the more I appreciate simple things- the things that require no electricity, remote controls, or connection to the internet and that don’t have any little blue or green or red or orange indicator lights. Things like: a sharp pole ax with a good handle; or a good steak cooked over an open fire; or an evening spent at home with beloved ones playing a game and laughing; or a drive down a tree-covered road with the windows rolled down in a vehicle old enough that I can still hear and feel the engine’s surging growl; or a hand-holding stroll in the cool of the evening conversing with the love of my life; or a morning spent by the softly-crackling glow of the fireplace with a large cup of coffee and my Bible.
Technological advances have revolutionized our lives and made them much easier in many respects. But please don’t allow all these “techno toys” to prevent or even precede the things that really matter: the value of simple hard work that produces sweat; an appreciation of the wonderful world God created for us to enjoy in person, rather than by digital representations; the joy and love of family up close, without typed letters and electronically delivered hugs; and the profound pleasure of reading, studying, and living the Bible- it lives and abides forever you know, 1Peter.1:23. These are simple things, good things, things that will never become obsolete with the next generation of technological gadgetry.
I’ll leave you with two passages on which to contemplate: “…make it your ambition to lead a quite life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you; so that you behave properly toward outsides and not be in any need.” 1Thessalonians 4:11-12; and, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.