There is an APP for that

Greetings Dear Reader,

Between my students and my children I am surrounded by iPhones. While I admire the versatility, convenience, and small size, I have a philosophical difficulty with its parent company. That being true I am admittedly amazed by the many applications that can be acquired and used at will on smart phones.

For my recent birthday I received a Windows Smartphone. The phone is not smart but it sure can do many things. As with most Smartphones worth owning it had all the phone and texting features one would want as well as internet via phone or Wi-Fi. I can get weather, news, and most other information with a few taps of a screen. Information, communication, and entertainment are instantly available no matter where I am.

All this is excellent but there is this nagging feeling I have surrounding the diminished level of face to face communication. I value very much speaking to someone and looking them in the eye when I do. The speed and alacrity of communication is good. Diminishing the quality of that communication is not. There is not an APP that will replace real time with my family and friends. Nothing substitutes for real time love and laughter or even shared grief passing between people.

As we become more digitally connected I fear that we are becoming less personally connected. It is too easy to assume that we can problem solve with our devices and depend less on each other. I think we also make it too easy to distance ourselves from spiritual matters. We can research, think, and even view sermons from the comfort of our solitudes. We can forsake the human element of our journey to God.

The difficulty I find is that it removes me from all accountability. We need to be among each other. The faith journey is a shared experience and we are not meant to travel alone. The distancing ourselves from the community of believers is not a healthy one. There is not an APP that can replace the experience of corporate worship and communal prayer. No matter what our reasons, when we deprive ourselves of the community aspect of our faith journey, we suffer.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure store."