Phones. They were once things that could only exist on the end of a cord. There would only be maybe one found in a house. All they were used for was to call another person, to talk to them, maybe tell them something. Eventually a family might have two or three. But they couldn't be used at the same time. Then phones started to become wireless. No more need for a land line. Cell phones came into existence. Then everyone had one. You could call someone whenever and wherever you wanted. But then you could do more than just call. Now you could send written messages using the numbers. Then companies came out with keypads that had the alphabet to make this texting thing easier. Now phones don't have keypads anymore, but touchscreens that can show you anything you need.
Phones used to be devices that were meant as a form of verbal communication. Now they are more able to be defined as distractions. We use them for a lot of things. They can still be used to call someone and have a verbal conversation with them, but I don't think anyone would say that is what they primarily use their phone for anymore. Now it's texting. Using apps. Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr. We read off our phones. We look into other people's lives. We have this thing we hold in our hand, and it tends to consume our entire vision. It has become the window we look through so often that we don't see much else when we are distracted by it. We take pictures with it. But we take so many pictures that we sometimes miss what we are taking the picture of. That beautiful sunset that you say the picture doesn't do justice; how much of it did you see outside of your screen? Were you so determined to get a good picture of it that the shot is all you have? Is that all your memory can remember of it? The picture? Is that even a good way to remember something?
"The trip was great! I have a ton of pictures!" But what are you going to do with those pictures? We don't develop photos anymore. We keep them on our phones to bring up and show off when the occasion calls. But eventually they take up too much space and need to be deleted. And then what do you have of that trip? You were so busy taking pictures that you didn't really experience anything expect the tapping of the camera app. Can you picture that view without pulling out your phone? Can you remember who you went with without referencing a group photo?
We've gotten to a point that we find it strange if we don't have pictures of something. It never used to be that way. I remember family trips where we only took about five or ten photos. The rest we lived. We experienced. I have the memories of the things we did, and even though they were done when I was young, I still remember them. All I need is just one of those pictures, and I relive the experiences of the trip from memory. Now I need to scroll through my pictures to get a fuller idea of everything we did.
We document everything on our phones and expect everything to be documented. If we are curious about something we look it up. Why ask a person when we can just ask Siri? Phones eliminate the need for human contact. We have the world at our finger tips, quite literally. We can look up a picture of anything we want. We can have most any information we desire. Yet, what do we choose to look up? We could be very informed on the major things that are happening in our world today, yet we tend to look at our Facebook page that is filled with celebrities and articles that never hold more than the latest fashions or trends. We laugh at the fail army videos, simper at the cute baby animals, scoff at the stupid things that people do that have been caught on camera, whether in pictures or in videos. We could be so well informed, yet most of the time we are not.
I am not above this. I am not informed. I can't say that I ever have tired to be. But maybe I should be. Maybe we all should be. We definitely have no excuse not to be. We have all the information that we could need in the palm of our hands. The problem is that all the distractions that could ever possibly be in existence is also held in that same palm.
What is the first thing you look at in the morning? If you are like me, your phone is next to you when you wake up. Groggy with sleep, you might grad it to help wake yourself up. What app do you use first? Facebook? I do. Is that really what you should be looking at first thing in the morning though? I have a devotions app. I have no excuse as to why that is not the first thing I look at. It should be. I should be seeking God first thing in the morning. My phone makes that a complete possibility. But it also makes distraction even more of a possibility.
We have the world at our fingertips. Isn't that amazing? It's wondrous really. But what has having the whole world in our hands done for the immediate world around us? What do we miss when we look through that tiny window? When we let our entire vision be engulfed by that small screen? We already know that driving has been compromised by this small device. We can be connected to people across the continent, but what about those in the immediate vicinity? What happens to conversation when the first person takes out their phone? Distraction takes over, and it tends to stop.
I think we've all been to that friend hangout where one person takes out their phone for one reason or another, and then another friend takes out theirs, and soon you're all on your phones and conversation has stopped except for the occasional "oh look what so and so has posted!" or " have you seen this or that post?" I hate when this happens. I really do. I want to yell at my friends to see who is in front of them, rather than who is only inside that device.
I've have been trying lately to get my friends to stop using their phones while driving. I think that is the most stupid way you could possibly ever use your phone. Nothing is so important that you have to risk your safety, as well as the safety of those on the road around you to look at your phone. It can wait. I promise you, whatever it is, it can wait until you pull over, or get out of your car. It will still be there once your done driving. I told one friend, "I don't want to be on the receiving end of the message that causes something bad to happen to you." I don't want anyone to be in that situation. All it takes in common sense to avoid that situation for anyone.
Stop looking through that virtual window for a while. See the reality that exists around you. Watch the people walking by you. In college, everyone uses their phone to avoid having to interact with their peers around them. It's convenient. It's appealing. It's easy. But maybe just once, try and break that barrier and talk to someone new. Have a real conversation with someone who is right in front of you.
Just put the phone down every now and then. Please.
