Step by Step

Have you ever taken a walk and been very mindful of everything you were doing and everything you were looking at along the way? By that I mean...were you aware of each step and how it felt to put your feet on the ground...how the muscles felt in your feet when they moved? Were you aware of the air on your face, and the sounds around you ?

Sometimes, in our daily lives, we lose sight of things like this. We are so busy and we are so technologically minded these days. Technology can be a good thing, but it can also be something that separates us from real life.

I'm not a big technological person. I blog - that is about as high tech as I get. I have a basic cell phone that doesn't take pictures, or surf the web, or anything like that. To me, technology is a burden most of the time. In many ways, it has come to rule our lives. I work with people who are so caught up in technology that they are always connected, always texting, or tweeting, or whatever it is called.

Step by step, technology is taking us away from silence and from listening to God and the world He made for us. Even while walking, many people are still connected to their cell phones, ipods or...what are those other things........ear buds?

So, in being low-tech.... I like to spend time 1:1 with Jesus in Church. Alone. Whole church to myself. Me and Jesus. It is silent. I've shared that with some people at work and they think I am strange because they can't handle silence. Perhaps it is because they will be afraid of what they will hear in the silence...namely, their own soul crying out for meaning and purpose in a very cold and high-tech world. And dare I say...they might also hear God's voice too? Once I knew someone who had five TVs in her house. While I was there visiting I asked her if she wanted to shut them off so we could talk and she said no, she leaves them all on because otherwise she has to "think" and thinking was uncomfortable for her.

Step by step, we have to start walking back to silence and put technology in its place. Technology is good if we use it in moderation and to help us. But when we become addicted to it and when we allow it to steal our silence, then it becomes a problem.

So, the next time you go for a walk, I challenge you to keep the cell phone in your pocket. Pay attention to your steps and where you are going in life and in your relationship with Jesus.