Turned “ON” by your computer?

It’s responsible for connecting millions every day, while disconnecting thousands every second. It connects people with family they’ve never met before, while disconnecting them from family they’ve known their entire lives. It has made the world as a whole much smaller, therefore intensifying the competition that’s being waged between corporations and employees for maximum output in exchange for minimum dollar. It builds up walls for people to hide behind, while destroying the lives of others who reveal their lives to them. This wall is the barrier of deception that manipulates the thoughts, emotions, and hearts of those who trust it.

Everyday it’s responsible for global business taking place, parent’s monitoring their children from work, and teen hook ups that often lead to pregnancy, STD’s, and in some cases death. The double edge sword that I speak of provides the blood flow of life to the heart beat of the world, it’s known as the computer. The computer indirectly provides comfort for the lonely, confidence for the insecure, a fix for the addict, entertainment for the idle, and distractions for the focused. In essence, it builds up one spectrum at the expense of tearing down another. But the question then becomes, are we too dependent?

Instead of calling to say “I Love you” we send an email to say it. Instead of giving face time to those seeking attention in front of us, we give the bulk of our time to those on Facebook. Instead of allowing our families into our personal space, we allow strangers into our emotional space on MySpace. Meaningful relationships have been reduced to following people around to connect on the next popular social networking site. These relationships consist of being 1 of 1,000 people that are sent messages, filled with more invitations to join them somewhere else, or an online cause of some sort, that will not have any impact except for its continuous circulation.

It’s time to turn off the ”Crackberry”, vacation from the social networking sites, take a break from emails, and break away from the digital slavery that has so many obeying a cyber master that will forever hold them captive if they don’t stop and recognize what’s happening to their lives. It’s time to stop hiding behind the computer screen, username, profile page, and who others think you are. It’s time to “IDENTIFY YOURSELF” and work on the real life relationships that will last long after the internet connection fails. It’s time to put the computer down and pick up the morals and values that will protect us from it. It’s time to put down the mouse and pick up the phone and work out the issues with those we love that could be taken away before this sentence ends.

It’s time to stop focusing on more memory for our computers and create more memories with our families. It’s time to stop adding new friends on social networking sites and appreciate and continue strengthening relationships with the ones we already have. The things that we enjoy the most are always lost by wanting more. Because we stop enjoying who we are, and focus on who we aren’t. We miss out on what we do have, by looking for things we don’t. In essence our lives have become like the computer, continuously needing upgrading. The only difference is the computer software started out broken, which is why it has to be upgraded to a status that causes it to be less broken than it was before. However, we were never created that way. This epidemic has developed over time and unlike the computer, our brokenness increases over time while the brokenness of the computer improves. Technology is a large part of all our lives, but it needs to be kept in its proper place.

We need to deposit more time investing in and appreciating others, so that when we need encouragement, inspiration, or elevation, our interpersonal investment in their lives will allow us to withdraw from that investment. It’s time to unplug the computer and plug into others who need us the most so that we can be connected to the source that truly needs our talents, skills, and abilities.