Not long ago we spent a day at an area amusement park. It was crowded and the lines were long, and I found myself mumbling things that I once thought I'd only ever hear my father say.
It's OK. There is a season for everything.
I noticed something, though. While there were plenty of people who seemed to be having a great time, there were also many who simply appeared to be there to make a record of it all. There was the grandmother who, though seated next to her grandchild, was more intent on making a video of her experience on the spin-around ride than actually experiencing it herself. She held on tight to that iPad while her grandchild held on tight for dear life. And there was the teenager who held a bright cell phone high above his head in the dark, scary ride, thus ruining the effect for the rest of those who had boarded the ride hoping to suspend reality, not watch as someone else took a picture of it.
Now don't get me wrong. A Kodak moment is a Kodak moment, and even though Kodak has gone the way of the dinosaurs, the legacy of creating a record of our experiences, a lasting memory, lives on. But my question, in this age of amazing technological advances, is this: Have we crossed the line? Are so many of us running around looking at the world through our smart-phones and tablets that we're missing something? Are we living in a virtual world, forgetting there's an actual world out there beckoning us to experience it?
What's our plan for today--to watch videos of what we didn't actually do yesterday?
Technology is a wonder. But when we get to the end of this life, let's not wonder why we didn't spend more time in the garden and less time sniffing at the pictures of roses on our computer screens.
If you enjoy reading, please feel free to share. And at some point be sure to shut it down and go out and smell those actual (real, living, blooming) roses!
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