The other evening, the electrical power went off in our home, as it did for a rather large geographic area. Talk about simplifying life in a hurry. Despite my infatuation with social media (something in which it is difficult to participate without electricity when router dependent), I found the fading daylight and stillness of our home quite peaceful. Wonderfully peaceful.
I thought about the home of a neighbor farmer and his family that my father and I occasionally passed when I was a child. The dark home shortly after nightfall always produced the comment from Pop that "Farmer Browning and his family are in bed like the sun, good people that they are." There's something simple and romantically attractive about a lifestyle like that. At least there is until you are forced to live it.
My wife and soon to be nineteen year old twin sons arrived home to our darkening home without electricity. Candles were lit throughout our home, and we sat around the kitchen table, ate and visited in the candle light. I had a strong sense of contentment in the simplicity of it all, wondering if the Amish gang may be on to something.
My point? Perhaps there's a subtle lesson there, that in our somewhat frenzied activity to be known and to know others on social media platforms, it is so very good to be with those so very close to our hearts without a keyboard to connect us. There's something about honest to goodness, face to face relationship that even Skype can't bridge. Being human, we simply yearn to be together in a still, relaxed moment.
Do me a favor and use your choice of social media to arrange an unhurried breakfast or leisurely lunch with someone you love or truly care about.
And then post it on Facebook so we can all enjoy the experience together. (just kidding)
Thanks for sharing 92 seconds of your day,
Smitty
Amen! Created in God's image, we are designed to be in relationship with one another. Connection via social media is a supplement, not a substitute for human relationship.
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