We’re so addicted to distraction it’s ridiculous. The other day I kept checking a website on my phone I don’t even care about. The reason? My mind wants to be doing something. When I was waiting in line somewhere the other day what did I do? I whipped out my phone. It’s no longer normal to be alone with our thoughts or bored. We want that distraction.
But in many things we desecrate the holy with that need for distraction. When we’re trying to talk to someone and they are constantly checking their messages, we’re dishonoring the holiness of one another. When we’re sitting in a park on a beautiful day but we’re on our phone, we’re dishonoring the beauty of the day that the Lord has made. When we’re taking a class from someone or in church and looking at our phone, we’re dishonoring the assembly.
I do all these things.
But I woke up this morning thinking about a violation that we all need to change. When we’re eating a meal and we’re distracted with our screens, we violate the animal that gave its life for us. Why? We hardly even notice and appreciate and enjoy the meal. We’re much more interested with what is on our screen.
It’s hard to remember in a society that does everything for us regarding our food, that the steak or burger we’re eating was once a life. It once had eyes, connection to other animals, personality and more. It was life. And it gave us life that we might live.
And when we don’t even appreciate that life, it’s a deep violation of that animal. It’s a desecration actually of life.
Putting down our screens is hard. It’s because what is on the screen has a higher dopamine addiction than many drugs. We’ve genuinely become a world of addicts.
God help us all.
