Anyway, so here I am again, a year later, wondering if I should get a blackberry. I admit I'm an email junky. I check it everyday. And if I'm at my computer, which I often am, it refreshes every couple minutes to keep up-to-date. My firefox has my two email accounts open at any given time, on top of facebook. I want to be the first to know when someone has replied to one of my emails (and I send a lot of emails). It's this instant connection with my email, calendar and other things that makes it appealing to get a blackberry. So I can be connected to everything and everyone when I'm on the road!
But I also don't want one because I know I won't ever be off it. As much as email and facebook is a great thing to keep connected with people, I know it's nothing that will add to my life at the end of the day. It's just a means to get by, something that you need to do, but not something you need.
And that brings me to think of the theme of being connected. Am I really connected to God as much as I am connected with my friends and networks? Does God get the same amount of attention, effort and concern? Quite often, I am not as connected to God as I'd like to be. But just as all these online connections are instant, I am reminded that God is also a connection we have at our disposal, 24/7. We have our own built in wi-fi connection that allows us to plug in to the God of the universe at any given time or place, whether in crisis or just to say what's up.
All we have to do is get connected.
*rebecca
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When I first starting working as an IT Project Manager, I sent about 100 emails per day. All the admin work for every single project I worked on was done over email. I got really good at being concise (or not so concise if it was required) and very clear in what I wrote. I thought I was quite good when it came to communication.
Recently, I worked with a senior project manager who manages multiple projects simultaneously. Right of the bat, I knew I had so much to learn from him just because his knowledge base was so much greater than mine. I constantly picked his brain asking many questions about all the applications we worked on. I noticed many differences in his project management style (mainly that his style is so much better than mine) that I could adapt. One thing in particular seemed so simple but it completely blew me away...
He got the job done and moved projects along exponentially faster than I could. As I observed further, I realized one key thing - he hardly ever sent any emails. He believes that emailing should only ever be used when we need something in writing and that anytime there is non yes/no feedback, one should engage in a discussion in person.
I'm not against data plans or smartphones - if the user actually needs it. I do, however understand now that so much is lost in translation when emailing and that for many of us, human interaction is taking a tumble because we feel that we can hide behind a screen.
In Matthew 5, it says '...let your yes be yes, and your no be no.'
I feel that there is just something about actual in person conversation that is such a gift from God. We are less ambiguous, forced to be assertive and able to read others better.
If the discussion point is important enough, it should be important enough to talk in person rather than sitting on a bus, at another meeting or at the dinner table typing away on a little keyboard.
*sam
3 comments:
Things like facebook, msn, cellphones and blackberries-they let us to reach other people in an instant. We can see that they receive our messages, and in turn we get our responses that are right infront of our eyes.
This idea of instant connection is so appealing isn't it? But it’s so appealing that it consumes most of our time.
If I were to think about it carefully, I usually spend about a half hour with God daily. Compartively however, during the day my cellphone is consistently on, I check my email and/or facebook at least once, and I can spend anywhere up to 2 hours on msn. The ratio is largely in favour of connection with my friends rather than with God.
It's also interesting that this article would come up-because today my dad lost his work cellphone. It is not often that I get to see him so frantic. The very thought of missing a work-related phone call, and losing his extensive address book was almost unimaginable. Seeing him in his state I said a prayer to God-but maybe this break from his cellphone was a good thing. Maybe God meant to show how we cannot be so reliant on these shallow forms of communication.
So to the topic of Re:Connect, you can see that it has its technological side to it. We should be thinking about the idea of "disconnecting" from these things that take up our consciousness-of always thinking “did I get a message?” or “What is so-and-so up to? Let me go check my facebook!” and focusing more on our relationship and communication with God.
very well put natasha :)
I definitely agree that we don't realize how subconsciously important it is for us to be reachable and have things NOW.
I feel like it's taken up all our time and distracted us from just taking time aside to BE with God.
Ya, crackberry's suck! Don't get it... If you lose it, you are screwed out of a lot of $ usually too.... Take it from the guy who lose at least one phone already...BUT all of them basic phones with no accessories :P My cousin says the BB they gave her at work makes her lose ALL her sleep!
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