Out of the Wilderness

At my church last week the pastor spoke about how smartphones are affecting our daily life, or possibly even running it. It was a great sermon, and very much needed! He also offered 5 free copies of a book called “12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You” by Tony Reinke. They’d be on a small table towards the front of the sanctuary after the service was over, and first come, first served. I was sitting in the back (shame! shame!) so I thought the books would surely be gone before I got there. Darn! On the way out of the church (before turning airplane mode off on my Nokia 6.1), I shook the pastors hand and after telling him I loved the sermon, he mentioned the book again and to go grab a copy. By this point, I figured anyone who wanted one had their chance, so if any were left I’d take one. I rushed to opened up Waze on my phone to help me navigate through circles of people chatting, through pews, ignoring any opportunity to talk to anyone face to face, to quickly get to that little table in the front. OK, OK, not all of that is true. My phone actually doesn’t get reception in the church building. Thanks a lot, AT&T!

At last I was there and got a copy of the book. I started reading that very Sunday and so far so good! Lots of insight, info, stats, and Scripture references and I’m only through the forward, preface, and introduction! It’s Thursday. What can I say, I’m a slow reader. I also have a book from the library that’s due back today. Guess how far I’m into that one?

I’m excited to read further and find out how to be the boss of my phone, instead of the other way around. Christian or not, it’s easy to see how technology and smartphones can so quickly and almost undetected rule our lives and I don’t want that to be the case with me. Although I do have a TikTok account and there were a few weeks there where I was obsessed with uploading and watching videos. I couldn’t help it! I mean, have you seen the Git Up dance? So entertaining.

Sadly, I’ve already failed this week at a goal I set for myself with my smartphone.

The Goal… phone goes off at 10pm and turns on at 8am.

The Results… lasted literally 1 day.

By Tuesday morning the rule was impossible to obey because I had a trip to Memphis, leaving the house at 545am. So there went the 8am thing! I don’t feel bad about it because, like a lot of people out there, my phone is so integrated into work I do, from the Tuesday job in Memphis, to Amazon deliveries here in Nashville (100% of this work is on the phone). It’s simply a tool I need to have on most of every day. But there are other ways to master this smartphone thing, from limiting time on social media like Facebook status scrolling, TikTok watching, etc. so I’m going back to the drawing board to work out a schedule for my employee (the Nokia).

I think it’s awesome the church, at least my church but I’m sure there are more doing this, is addressing the issue of technology and how it affects our life every second of every day. There’s definitely a spiritual element to it, and how to not let it become an idol. I mean, the iPhone cost $1,000 and I saw recently (on Facebook, whilst scrolling endlessly through friends statuses [crying emoji]) that the entire menu of Cracker Barrel costs somewhere around $880. THE ENTIRE MENU! I think I’d rather have Cracker Barrel hash browns for a month than an iPhone anyway. #NokiaLikeIts1999

-Out of the Wilderness

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