Be Still

Cartoon Network has a new app that allows you to Play Games and Watch TV AT THE SAME TIME! No longer will our youth be restricted to just the flashy, mind-numbing, unintelligible sights and sounds of Adventure Time, but they can also simultaneously play Ride 'em Rigby on the same screen.

Now, honestly, that's not a novel idea because my son has already been doing that for some time! He will watch his iPad Netflix app with ear buds all the while playing Minecraft on the computer. We used to think just checking email and working on a spreadsheet was impressive, but that was novice multitasking compared to what's ahead for today's youth.

Parents and teachers alike are concerned about the effects of technology on the brains of young people. Many claim they are being rewired, and not in a good way. Attention spans are diminishing. Recently it was reported that the average young person's attention span is 9 seconds - the same as a goldfish!

We lost electrical power the other day. It became quiet and all the lights were off. It was strange, almost a foreign feeling. It felt unnatural. But should it? I stepped outside on the back deck where I simply sat down in a lawn chair. I could hear the birds chirping. The squirrels scampered along the ground. Then a question popped into my head.

Do we ever "turn it off" anymore? You know, just unplug?

I'm reminded of a verse in Psalms. "Be still and Know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

Be still? Be still. Stop. Unplug. Turn off. For how long? What if...? Yeah, I know, it's hard. Yet, I'm convinced God is being pushed away by all our technology. The busyness of life keeps us...well, busy. And if we're always busy, fluttering from pixel to pixel, when is there any time for God?

Now I'm the last person to be anti-technology. But I see the need to take breaks from it. Jesus didn't have tech like we do today, but he was a very busy man! What did he do? He took breaks. Luke wrote, "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

Jesus went off by himself to be alone with the Father. He removed the distractions from His routine life. He "unplugged." He was "still."

It behooves (love that word!) us to do the same!
Turn it (fill in the blank) off for a little while.
That app isn't going anywhere.
Your phone calls will go to voicemail.
Your emails will sit patiently in your inbox.
Your show can be watched on demand, from the DVR, or online.

Take the time to "Be still" today. In fact, I would encourage you to do it every day, if even for 5 minutes. Protect that time. No interruptions. You might have to go away somewhere quiet and lonely like Jesus did. But do it.