This topic has become such a HUGE one for me in the last year. Let me have it unfold for you.
As we become more technologically sound, I will contend that we become more inept at communicating at all. The irony in me posting this via blog astounds me - but I will continue.
I have been doing youth work for over 20 years now. It really started to strike me a few years ago at how much communication was starting to break down. Kids were filling out job applications online and wondering why they weren't getting a job. They would break up with one another over Facebook and wonder why their friends knew before they did. Relationships aren't even official unless they hit Facebook and are "Facebook official". We spend hours in the car - talking on the phone or texting from the back seat. Why don't we talk to each other????!!! We send e-mail to avoid conflict or to get answers to questions. While these things all seem benign - I truly contend that we have lost the art of reaching out and truly communicating. The one that got me last week was the new iPhone 4s. You can talk to her and she will talk back and often with a little sassiness. That is cute - but think about it for just a moment. We talk to our phone but not each other. We text rather than get an answer or feeling in person. My own church is one of those where the pastor is on the big screen. When he actually comes in person, there is a completely different feeling in the room. I know that my best friend recently had a conference to go to and all of it was simulcast. Technology is awesome - but we are missing out on ...each other.
I am missing the world! I think we are all so so lonely. We are so desperate for connection, that we are tricking ourselves into thinking that things like Facebook, texting and the internet are real. Yes, they are operated by real people - but we have lost the physical connection. I would soooo much rather hear someone's voice than see a text. Do you know how short a conversation can be on the phone vs. texting. I have timed it on occasion. A simple question can be answered in less than 2 minutes on the phone and over 20 on text. We are wasting time! Here these efficient machines are misleading us into a lul of thinking we are obtaining more time by being quick. Truth is - we are losing time with one another. We are losing time to share our hearts and ultimately time for truth and love. It is such a clever trick and ultimately a distraction from what we are supposed to be doing.
I need to not waste any more time today. I am off to enjoy the life I was meant to live. I am off to stop wasting away.
“That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!” Ephesians 1:18 MSG
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