Across the dinner table, her head was down; every head crooked down in a bow of worship before the remarkable evening meal. Looking from head to head (in some cases balding spot to balding spot), it was a sight to see, chilling to behold the way the faces were lit and glowing in the shine of the object of each of their adoration.
All around the dinner table, their heads inclined toward their cell phones.
Something that I have noticed (and of which I've partaken) is that on occasion when people gather closest, they tend to escape to their respective digital worlds. For some, it's Facebook on their phone; others cannot leave their ESPN updates for fear of missing the winning score; emails tend to capture attentions for the necessity of 'work'. And the saddest part in all of this?
Whenever I'm the one with the phone out, I don't even consider how pathetic I really am in light of my urgency to accomplish little.
In an office job, our emails can wait for a couple of hours—longer than a day, probably not—but they can certainly survive at the least for the time that we spend with our loved ones. Whenever Facebook draws us in, the most challenging thing to grasp is how it is a digitalnetworking site, and does not connect people as strongly as they can, and should, connect with one another.
Next time I attend a family dinner or a reunion, or over holiday, I will turn off my phone. And when I turn it back on
I will get back to you as soon as I can; please leave a message after the tone.
“‘Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the LORD, ‘and not a God far away?’”