From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
Not too long ago my youngest daughter decided to invite a couple of friends over for an evening of board games.
My wife and I were watching Jeopardy in a separate room but had to turn the volume up due to the regular outbursts of uproarious laughter coming from the game players.
My youngest son also abandoned his iPod in order to join in on the fun.
I must say, it was music to my ears.
In an age where cell phones dominate the landscape leaving a room full of teens and young adults sitting around in silence, with no conversation, it was just so nice to hear actual social interaction.
I have found that many so-called ‘Facebook friends’ are not really friends at all.
There is very little true sharing of laughter and tears, or heart to heart, face to face talks.
Instead there is a lot of posturing and posing and hiding behind a cyber façade.
Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly…”
How can a person be friendly when they spend most of their time on a phone either texting or playing games?
These things are not wrong, in and of themselves, but when they dominate a person’s time and energy, something is clearly wrong.
In the past year or so I have even had to alter how I officiate at weddings.
It has actually become necessary for me to urge people to turn off their phones and simply enjoy the wedding, instead of popping up every two seconds trying to get the perfect pic to post on social media.
It’s an epidemic, people!
Maybe this week would be a great time to break out a few of those board games and declare your home to be a ‘no phone zone’.
You might wake up the next day with a gut sore from all the laughter!
