"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Sunday, January 2, 2011
I have a question, and I'm genuinely interested in your insights here.
Question: Do you feel a need to simplify?
You may not. Perhaps most of you don't, and in that case this post will probably mean little to you. But, man, I do. I've taken steps toward more simplification, in small online ways: I've quit facebook statusing, although I have continued using FB as a convenient communication medium. I got completely out of twitter and have resolutely stayed away from other online social media, besides (of course) still blogging a little. I cheerfully traded my new Droid to my wife - who loves it! - for a four year old Blackberry that, thankfully, doesn't do near as much.
I have so far to go, though, on this quest. I'm working very hard right now to learn effective ways of quieting my mind. I think this has great spiritual benefit and is a vital aspect of my stewardship of my time, my spiritual focus, and my interactions in real-life community and family, while hopefully making me more productive to the people who sign my paycheck.
Where are you at in this? Have you felt the same way? Or do you feel a need to expand your presence in the social networking sphere? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments thread.
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Comments on "Simplify":
3. Jim
- 01/02/2011 9:57 pm CST
I made the decision to "downgrade" from a smartphone to just a regular phone the rings and texts. I would often scold my teen daughter for always having her phone in her hand, texting and talking - mostly texting, talking is so passe' now - but realized I was doing the same thing, always checking email, the web, news, etc. So, when my phone went on the blitz, I got them to change my phone. Granted, I went with a netbook computer package but not only did I save some money, I also simplified my life...somewhat.
4. Jared
- 01/03/2011 7:48 am CST
I have never had a smartphone for that very reason; I don't want to be that plugged-in. I know the temptation for me would be too great to always have my nose in it. I don't need to have access to the Internet or email everywhere I go. I didn't even have mobile phone capability 10 years ago, and I managed to not die. ;-)
I do spend quite a bit of time on the web on my laptop but have curtailed my time on blogs as well as Facebook. Twitter I find very easy to pop in and out of without much time-suckage. Tweetdeck stays up running behind whatever I'm working on and I only have a small portion of those I follow in my visible feed, so I don't have too much to sort through. And of course it doesn't take long to share a 140-character thought.
In simplicity of "real life," I have felt the need, especially as the gospel took greater hold of me, and I began to sort through what kingdom life should look like in my personal life, family life, and church life. This is sort of what birthed the sermon series at Element ("God vs. Suburbia") that eventually became my book Abide and influenced our decision to move from suburban south to rural Vermont.
I think people are suffocating and often don't know it.
6. kenleonard
- 01/03/2011 1:10 pm CST
Many years ago, when I was a "floating teller" for a credit union, I had told the supervisor of the branch to which I was supposed to go in the morning that I'd be getting my oil changed on the way to work the next morning.
While I was sitting in the waiting room at the Jiffy Lube, the attendant got a phone call, looked up, and said, "Are you Ken?" Yes, my supervisor called me THERE to tell me I was needed in a different branch.
Anyway ... I decided then and there that I didn't need a cell phone. Since then, I have got one. But it doesn't browse the internet, have an MP3 player, or a camera. I supposed I can send text messages, but I don't.
Anyway ... yes, I'm working on getting the processed food out of my house. By the end of winter, my wife and I have committed to having our pantry full of ingredients, not boxed things. We're already mostly there, but there are some remaining stashes of whatnot.
We bake about half of our bread, now. The garden didn't do as well last year as I'd hoped, but I learned a lot for this coming year.
If I can talk my wife into letting me raise chickens (for eggs, I'm not into slaughtering things), then we might take an even-bigger step.
7. Bird
- 01/03/2011 5:57 pm CST
kenleonard,
My wife and I have been doing the homesteading thing for about a year and a half now. We've got a flock of chickens that give us our eggs and we've even slaughtered chickens and ducks for meat. It's not that bad, actually. If you've ever gutted a semi-big fish, it's only a little harder than that, but not much.
8. kenleonard
- 01/03/2011 8:11 pm CST
Actually, I've never gutted a fish, either.
I'm a wuss, I admit it.
We might move in that direction, though.
Leave a Comment:
I'm with you. I feel the need to throw away junk, streamline my life, and get down to a few useful gadgets that I use as my servants and not the other way around.
For specific reasons I have never ventured into the realm of smart phones, Facebook, or Twitter. Obviously those things aren't evil, but I'm glad I don't have the choice right now to give myself to those things.
Keep it up, brother.