Have you set on a porch swing lately?

Earlier this morning I was making myself reminders of people I need to call and things I need to do. I’m sure you do the same. This morning I put several of these reminders in my phone with alarm activation. No problem with that. Later, as I was finishing my devotional time I was thinking about technology. (I know what you’re thinking- how does a devotional time lead to thinking about technology?) Actually, the devotional time didn’t but a book I am reading did. I will not go into the details of that right now but suffice it to say that my mind was on technology and namely our use of it. Specifically, I am thinking of communication technology. We are loaded with it and while it can be of great benefit there is a big draw back.

From texting to twittering, from Facebook to MySpace- we are quickly losing our abilities to interact with people. Why call when we can send a text? The result? We are losing our ability to communicate with each other. Don’t get me wrong. I am not down on technology. I am using it now. I am simply saying that we need to learn again the value of personal communication. We need to rediscover the porch swing. We need to learn how to have engaging conversation. We need to learn again the art of listening and asking questions. We need to remember that when somebody is hurting and facing a hard time, a text message may be okay for a time but what is really needed is a friend that is there. Think about it.