Voices from the Commode
I had just entered what appeared to be an empty men's room on the campus where I minister. All was silent as I put down my briefcase. Suddenly a loud voice began talking, apparantly from one of the stalls. Who was he talking to, the guy next to him? No, he was talking on his cell phone-loudly. I heard all about his deer hunt plans, when he got out of class, etc. I wonder if the person on the other end knew where all this was coming from. No wonder live video phones have never really taken off.
Much has been written about the intrusion of modern technology into our lives. Silence, it seems, is to be avoided at all cost, especially on a college campus. Students walk, ride the bus, and even use the bathroom with i-pods or cell phones firmly stuffed in to their ears. People do not talk to each other in lines anymore, only their friends via the airwaves. What is this doing to us? How can we hear the voice of God if other voices are constantly in our ears?(What it is doing to our physical ears is another concern. Recent studies show hearing losses appearing earlier and earlier, even in young children and teenagers. Kids today stay plugged in all day long and the human ear was never designed for that.)
"Be still and know that I am God", advises our Creator. Perhaps a footnote in our modern translations should read "... and take off your headphones."
Much has been written about the intrusion of modern technology into our lives. Silence, it seems, is to be avoided at all cost, especially on a college campus. Students walk, ride the bus, and even use the bathroom with i-pods or cell phones firmly stuffed in to their ears. People do not talk to each other in lines anymore, only their friends via the airwaves. What is this doing to us? How can we hear the voice of God if other voices are constantly in our ears?(What it is doing to our physical ears is another concern. Recent studies show hearing losses appearing earlier and earlier, even in young children and teenagers. Kids today stay plugged in all day long and the human ear was never designed for that.)
"Be still and know that I am God", advises our Creator. Perhaps a footnote in our modern translations should read "... and take off your headphones."
posted by Rob | 10:56 AM
2 Comments:
Two things that technology does that I know I've been a victim/participant of myself. When you only talk to your friends rather than encounter others in line you limit the perspectives you encounter. It's that whole web thing where we continually only glean information from sources we already have an affinity toward making the world more and more polemical.
The second thing that technology does is but the burden of communication on someone other than yourself. We become lazy communicaters meaning we aren't able to keep conversations going, or we think that it's the other person's responsibility to keep our interest.
I remember sitting down with you on a weekly basis for spiritual conversation. That went a long way to help me develop my own communication skills. I hope you're still doing that with students! It makes more of a difference than anybody will let on in the moment.
Blessings,
-Travis N.
Technology is enticing and 'dumbify-ing'. Techno-gadgets are an excuse not to spend time with people. Men and boys are particularly vulnerably to having a relationship with a techno-toy rather than a parent, wife, or friend. Guy/techno-toys relationships may be the main reason why colleges are now being dominated by women. Nearly 60% of college students are women.
Parents should be aware that grades and test scores are inversely proportional to time spent with TV, gameboys, Video games, and other techno-gadgets. Ban cable-TV from the house. Have no Web connection or have a slow phone modem to connect the computer to the Web. You can learn a lot about computers without having a snappy web browser. Tie video-game time to piano practice. Allow video games only after the homework is done.
TV, video games and the INTERNET are of the 'Lordless powers' that make a Christ-centered life difficult or impossible.
AS TO CELL PHONES:
I don't carry a cell phone...too old I guess. Cell phones are not a big problem for me unless they are used while the person is driving. However, I hate to have my home phone ring several times in the evening. I would hate even more to have a personal phone buzzing away. I am resisting the pressure to carry a phone with me.
If I were a medical doctor, I could see the benefits. However, I am a physicist and it is rare that someone needs me to be 'on-call' to solve a physics problem.
"Hello, Vince? Quick, it's an emergency. I need to know why ice floats? Also, will the water level in the glass go up or down as the ice melts?"
or
"Vince. Jason is close to death, could you come and solve the three-body problem using an inverse square force? I know he would feel better."
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