The lone survivor.
I forgot to set the alarm this morning, thus I have been
rushing all morning... Finally, I found a moment for a little breather and I
took a walk around the pond outside my office and this time instead of praying
my usual rosary I walked around in silence.
As I was walking I saw a woman walking her dog so engrossed in her cell
that not once did she notice (or enjoy) the beauty around her. Nowadays, it’s the norm to see people
addicted to screens. In fact, I have
read multiple news stories about people getting severely hurt because they were
walking while staring at their cellular phone.
I thought about “Ready Player One,” a film that I watched with my nephew
which portrays a future world where people no longer live in reality, but are
consumed in a fantasy world of gaming and virtual reality. Is that where we are headed? A society no longer fostering real
relationships and experiences - opting for an illusion?
A duck fishing always cracks me up!
Before I returned to my faith I lived my life in comfortable agnosticism. Life hadn’t
given me a strong enough experience to challenge me to make up my mind in
regards to God. Though, I grew up in a time
before screens dominated our lives, even then tons of distractions kept me
from stopping for real reflection. I was always on the go, work and college
kept me running to and fro. Yet, as I
reflect on what kept me from appreciating my life it comes down to a sense of entitlement. As an agnostic, I believed that the created world would
always be there, it was mine not a gift from God. When I awoke I expected the sunrise and all
the created world to function rhythmically.
This daily assumption made me devalue the natural world so much so that
I never felt the need to immerse myself or enjoy it. In addition, American culture produces young people
that live at such a fast pace running from little league sports and countless extracurricular
activities – little kids with such busy schedules (and so much pressure) that
it’s no wonder a screen is a welcomed distraction.
Learn from turtles - they love soaking in the sun!
This year our RCIA kiddos were mostly young adults, people
who have lived engaged in technology all of their lives. I remember the afternoon we went to the beach
for our Via Crucis a young girl took a picture of the sunset then used an app
to Photoshop the picture into a turquoise monstrosity. She showed me the retouched photo with pride,
at which I silently thought what a desecration of God’s beauty. I don’t have anything against the
advancements of technology, but it does worry me that we are creating a world
where we are not passing values like the goodness of real relationships, of
appreciating God’s creation and being content with reality. As a Catholic I
have learned to slow down, to be grateful for everything and to be happy submersed
in the ever changing, morning sky. The more I learn my faith the more I realize the wisdom of its teachings, slow down and just be... Thus, I
think as long as we have faith and live it authentically there’s hope for us, even
in these fast technological times.
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