My cell phone didn't ring today.  There were no text messages to answer.  It finally got used late this afternoon but for most of Monday it was silent.  A thought ran across my mind that perhaps my cell was unneeded any longer.  Everything that I did could be done the old fashioned way.  No sooner did that idea register but there came a very real sense of anxiety.  Surprise is the word to describe my reaction.  Can a person really exist in today's world without that piece of technology?  My chief concern was that nagging "what if" feeling that hit me.  That's what I call the belief that something bad could happen and "what if" there were no phone close by.  Maybe this is all nonsense to you but it gave me a reason to reflect a bit.  


There is a common theme among novels of both the suspense and the horror genre.  It is the idea that human beings are slaves of the technology created to simplify life.  Various plot devices are used to suggest if not blatantly point out this dynamic.  One recent novel described a sinister plot where the victims are cut off from rescue due to the loss of the internet along with cell phones.  The author writes in his comments that this is indeed a scenario some predict that could be a reality someday.  Can you imagine what would happen if this younger generation lost the ability to use their phones?  Most young people use their cells to run their life not just make calls.  They would move way past mild anxiety into a full panic mode if forced to make do without them.  I am not saying either of these ideas is right or wrong.  It is something to think about.


Let me admit that it does bother me how dependent we are on all of these new gadgets.  Count me as one who sees them more as our masters than anything else.  Don't get me wrong on this.  I enjoy the internet as much as the next person.  So much more information is available to us than ever before.  We can click a button and end up reading almost anything in a moment.  Cell phones are great since they can rescue us in difficult settings.  But there is still a nagging suspicion that we are dependent on them in an unhealthy manner.  Again, check your emotional response at even a suggestion that you go without them.  You may be surprised.


Would we be as concerned about being too independent from God?  My guess is we march along day by day without a lot of thought about this.  Losing our stuff terrifies us.  Being out of line with God may not bug us as much.  Perhaps we are more like Samson who didn't know the power of God was gone until it was too late.  So we roll through each day unaware of our spiritual level.  Maybe it's just me but shouldn't we be as concerned about losing our closeness to God as we do our cell phone?  


Bro. Trey