Evan, Adeline, and Malina,
It happened again the other day. I was at home after a full day of work. We were in the basement playing and you (Evan) started calling my name. I had no idea that you had called my name several times earlier and finally gave up. But you really wanted me to play so you tried again. I wish I could say I heard you the first time, or the second, or the third. It wasn’t until you yelled my name that I looked up from my phone.
I was in the room but nowhere near any of you. I was around but not fully present. In that moment I surrendered and allowed myself to be controlled by a device I carry in my back pocket.
Your face was a mixture of frustration and confusion, wondering what I was reading that was more important than the Lego Ninjago you were trying to assemble and needed help with. It wasn’t until I saw your face that I wondered the same thing.
The technology I have in my life right now is amazing. The technology you will have when you are my age is hard to imagine. I am saying all of this to you three because I believe that for your generation, one of the greatest challenges to following Jesus, living in community with others and engaging the world will be to be fully present — to God, to one another, and to others you will encounter in your life.
The more technology develops the more it seems to implant itself in the fabric of daily life. This is not a bad thing, but it should come with a warning….be present, engage people fully, quiet yourself before God. Nothing will be more important than being completely in the moment, lost in a conversation or an experience or great beauty….without distraction.
When it comes to responding to you or responding to the flashing green light on my hand-held device….may you never have to wonder who will win.
Love,
Your Dad.
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