Scrolling
Traditionally, Lent has meant giving something up as in depriving yourself of eating favorite foods or treats. In other words, going on a diet. But couldn't and maybe shouldn't we diet several times a year? What makes Lent different?
This year, we are encouraged to turn around, think differently and do differently.
For me, maybe that should mean giving up my phone. Not the landline which connects me to real people and a few robo calls. But that ubiquitous device which is in my back pocket. In my hand. Next to the bedside. And checked constantly.
But to what end?
The distractions are endless. Tweets! Facebook messages! Email! Texts! YouTube! And now, a new one for me: Instagram.
A dizzying array of ways to fritter away time, to erase my attention span.
"It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools." Ecclesiastes Chapter 7:5
Have the constant interruptions of tweets and texts become the song of fools?
Could I tear myself away from my phone during this season of Lent? To reflect? To be open to God's message?
That will be my challenge, to think differently. Maybe even just start thinking again and stop scrolling.
1 Comment
Comments for this post are now off.
Cindy, I love this probably because this sounds exactly like me and everyone else I know. I have been upset with my older sister because I texted her a few weeks ago and got no response and I wondered why she would ignore her only brother when she never have before, so when I called to ask, she says to me, did you notice I answered the phone right away? She says, I'm no longer married to my phone, but to my husband.