Alone time

Just imagine for a minute what a different world it would be if instead of God saying, “It is not good for the man to be alone.   I will make a suitable partner for him”(Genesis 2:18-24), God would have said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make an iPhone for him.”

We probably all chuckle at the absurdity of the idea, but as I sit here tonight at the family cabin with my wife and daughter (all of us silently staring at our smartphone screens at different ‘apps’), I’m thinking maybe that world is closer than we think.

Are we becoming more like Adam before the creation of Eve and “alone” because we have the ubiquitous smartphone constantly in our hand?  How much has the smartphone interfered with the relationships we have with others, especially our spouse or children? Or, to the extreme, has the smartphone superseded the importance of being with our spouse or our other loved ones?

Studies show that we’re spending over 200 minutes per day using our smartphones for something other than a conversation.  If the focus of the research is on teenagers, some report their usage tops 500 minutes per day. 

Is the smartphone also interfering with the frequency and depth of our conversations with God? Instead of finding a quiet spot to sit down, hitting the “pause button” on life and reflecting on what we are doing with our lives and how much or how little God is part of each and every moment of our life, we sit down, grab our phones and check to see who recently updated their Facebook page or Tweeted something we just have to know, or we watch stupid pet tricks on YouTube.  

Perhaps if couples spent more time conversing with each other and listening to what their spouse was concerned about or was feeling, the rate of divorce would not continue to climb. (One has to wonder if one of the reasons young people today are delaying marriage could be tied to the cell phone?)

As part of my daily examination of conscience from now on, I’m going to try and think about how many minutes I had my cellphone in hand, and ask myself how necessary my use of it was.  The next time I go out to eat with my wife or kids or even at the dinner table at home, I’m going to try to remember to not bring my phone to the table.  Instead, I’m going to go all ‘retro’ on my family, engaging them in conversation much like Jesus would engage those around Him in conversation and listen intently to what they have to say.  Likewise, when I have a free moment, instead of trolling the internet for mindless stories, I’ll talk to God about my day, what I did right, who I helped, how I made His world a better place and how I can do better tomorrow.

Don’t let your spouse or children live alone, right next to you in the same home, and don’t let God live alone either.  Talk to them. They are there ready to listen!