Gadget free

As if it were not bad enough that today is a MONDAY – I walked out of the house today (almost) gadget free. Oh, it wasn’t on purpose. I was just distracted by trying to get my lunch for today; some basil and cilantro care packages that I am sharing with some of my cooking friends at work; a couple of wicker baskets for a co-worker who wants to make a Mother’s Day basket for her mother-in-law; my morning commute cup of tea – and in gathering all that stuff, I walked out the house without my BlackBerry AND my iPod. (and a collective gasp is heard around the world!) I know. Of all the things to leave behind, how could I leave those two things? And how am I ever going to survive this day without them? As I boarded my commuter bus this morning, I realized that I’d left these gadgets at home and for half a second – ok, a little longer than that – I contemplated getting off the bus and going back home to get my lifelines.

My BlackBerry contains all my information: phone numbers, schedule, to-do lists, other notes of importance to myself – lost for a day because, even with the backup at work, there were things that I added this weekend that I know with my faulty memory, I am just going to forget. And me without music? Ok, that’s just sacrilege! But, I have left one of these gadgets at home before (just never BOTH of them) and managed to survive. I am sure I will survive again.

But you know this got me to thinking: what did we ever do before technology became so much a part of our culture and lives that even the thought of doing without it, sends us into an emotional meltdown? I mean, back in the dark ages, when I was in high school (and even most of my college years), there was no such thing as cell phones – and even when they first came out, they were not as much a part of our culture as they are now. Initially, (as with most things) only the rich, wealthy and celebrity had cell phones and laptops and iPods and … well, you get the picture. And yet, even without a “CrackBerry” back then, I managed to keep in touch with my friends, keep up with my schedule, remember what I where I was supposed to be and who I was supposed to meet with…of course, I was much younger then – maybe that has something to do with it. Nah! I think we, as a society, have been come too dependent on the gadgets that help us run our lives more smoothly.

But, are we as equally dependent on the God of Heaven Who gives us life in the first place? Do we pause and panic when we walk out the house without having our daily devotion time? Do we stop and pause and really contemplate going back home to get our Bibles when we leave them at home on our way to church each week? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Another lesson to be learned: slow down! I know my mother is saying that to me as she reads this. I am constantly telling her that if she would just slow down instead of rushing out of the house in the morning, she wouldn’t forget her glasses, her cell phone, her camera…whatever. Yeah, I should have heeded that warning myself this morning.

So, it’s Monday and I’m (almost) gadget-free. Should be an interesting day. I know I will survive it. I’m just wondering if I will survive it with my sanity intact. Pray for a sista, will ya?

Be blessed.