As I listened to a Hispanic friend talk to her sister-in-law in their native tongue, I wondered what was so interesting. Communication is the essence of social contact and the iPhones and Smartphones are dumbing us down in a rapid fashion. LOL! Oh, that means “laugh out loud” for those antiquated baby boomers. Sorry, you didn’t hear me giggle as I wrote it, too bad.
The desk phone is coming to an end. So is the separation of work from home life. We continue to maintain a “land line” or regular phone line in our house for reliability and safety. By the way, a Federal judge recently ruled that tapping your cell does not require a warrant, a land line does. But wait, what if I call a cell phone from my land line? There are so many ramifications to the loss of the desk phone that it will be too late before we realize the impact of that loss. We all need downtime after a full day’s work. Our Heavenly Father is the ONE who created the Sabbath rest. Our body needs down time for rest and repair. So does our mind.
I am not an advocate of frequent texting. Don’t beat me up for that statement. I use texting sparingly when it is simply to send a quick piece of information to the recipient. However, trading texts for 5 minutes when a 2 minute phone call would have satisfied the need seems a little inefficient. But moreover the blessing of hearing the other person’s voice is the real treat. Texting does not communicate voice inflections that are critical in understanding the emotional state of the other person. What if they are distraught and need a kind word but don’t want to impose? Texting robs us of the interpersonal contact and need we all have. Am I not important enough for a phone call? Are you too busy to dial my number? Does texting satisfy the needs of “self” at the expense of others? That is the question you must answer for yourself. We must balance efficiency of need with ministry of Love to others.
We are heading toward “Communicative Isolationism”… I just made up another new buzz word. Would you rather get a text from Our Lord Jesus Christ or would you rather hear Him in an audible voice? Our society continues down the road of complexity. Now which password do I need to buy that song from iTunes? Is the password “letmein” or “helpmesomebody”? No, I have to attach a number???? Now we have to remember passwords to access our bank accounts when before we simply wrote a check and the bank had to verify our handwritten signature. Now, they don’t spend any time verifying a signature, it’s all electronic. We made it cheaper for them and took on another burden so they could make more money. Sweet!
Would you rather get a text from Jesus “IRS!” or hear His Voice tell you “I’m returning soon!”?
Text: DSTM or “Don’t shoot the messenger”. Selah!
Do you still Love me?