So…
Long time, no Brian.
Or at least no Brian devotions.
Yes, I took a month-and-a-half break from writing devotional thoughts.
Life got busy and “something had to give.” That is no different than you – you are extremely busy as well. The only question becomes, what will you give up due to your busy-ness. The thing that I gave up was my on-line activity. Not just the writing but even the checking of social media and internet. I have hardly looked at facebook, twitter, my website, or even on-line news in the last 40 days.
And strangely enough, though we find ourselves addicted to our social media and to our connectedness to all the happenings of our friends, to the news of the day, and to our entertainment personalities, what I found was that I became addicted to staying “off the grid.”
It was good. In fact, I didn’t feel disconnected from the world. Rather, I felt a bit reconnected to others that I see face-to-face each week. It made it a bit hard to step back into the online fray. Not that I don’t enjoy the writing. I do. And I appreciate so much those of you who are always so encouraging about my writings. But I also found that I enjoyed not being in the glow of the phone/tablet/laptop screen. Maybe more of us need to take a break at times and learn to reconnect with others outside of social media.
I recently read that Japan has established Internet “fasting camps” where Internet-addicted children learn to engage in real relationships. Researchers have linked too much “screen time” to obesity, sleep problems, depression, and other not-so-good stuff. Japan has come to understand that our drive for “connectedness” can lead to stress, and our stress can keep us from engaging in activities that reduce our worry and anxiety. So they are doing something about this damaging cycle. And the funny thing is… Japan ranks 4th in the world for Internet use, somewhere behind us.
I’m not telling you to stop using social media. I just encourage you to have balance. But more than that, I encourage you to be sure you are connecting to real people right in front of you each week. Go out to eat lunch with a friend, and don’t look at your phone the entire hour. Or do the same around the dinner table with your family.
And when you get together this week with your family for Thanksgiving – thank God for them and enjoy them. Don’t bury your face in your phone or tablet – enjoy the few hours you are with your loved ones. You all will have carved out several hours to come together – so use that time to reconnect to one another. There will be plenty of time to update your status after you tell them goodbye and are riding home with a full belly.