I am an avid reader. You all know this. I read everything I can get my hands onto. I picked this up from my old man, who read more than anyone I’ve ever known. As I’ve gotten older, I realize that reading is probably one of the single greatest things my old man ever taught me to do. It’s served me well countless times.
One of the things I read every month is the magazine “Gentleman’s Quarterly”, or more commonly known as “GQ”. Not only does “GQ” have great style tips (if anyone wants to buy me the suit on page 56 of April’s edition, I’d appreciate it), but I think it also has a finger on the pulse of current culture and trends. One of my favorite articles in “GQ” is the letter from the Editor. This month’s Letter from the Editor happened to particularly catch my eye, because it’s something that I feel like I have said time and time again, and I’m going to say it again before MY article is done.
At the start of the article, the Editor begins by saying that recently he was walking on the street when he was seen by one of his friends, who didn’t even stop him to say hello. This was unknown by the Editor until later on, when he actually did talk to his friend. The Editor asked his friend why he didn’t stop to say hello, to which the friend replied “Man, you were in your own orbit. You were looking down at your hand-held (a geek’s term for an iPhone, BlackBerry etc…), just totally locked in, answering emails or tweeting or texting. I didn’t want to bother you.” The Editor replied, “You should’ve called me on my hand-held, I totally would’ve answered…”
The Editor then goes on to talk about an article HE read (funny, an article about an article about someone reading an article…follow me here…) that said that scientists recently did a study in which a clown riding a unicycle rode by people in public. Out of all of the people studied, only about twenty-five percent of people who were talking on cell phones at the time the clown rode by noticed the clown. Twenty-five percent…that means if there were one hundred people, only twenty-five of them noticed.
Shocking.
But not really...
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m usually locked away in my own little world of texting, emailing, Twitter-ing, or facebooking. It’s funny, we are more connected as human beings have ever been, yet at the same time are grossly unconnected.
We as humans, by nature, are social creatures, yet our current society has made us more unsocial than ever.
This has lead me to believe, what else are we missing out there? According to these fancy scientists, and by scientists I mean people who have a clown out riding around on a unicycle, twenty-five percent of us wouldn’t even notice a CLOWN RIDING A UNICYCLE!!!
In Christ’s day and times, people really were connected. They didn’t have emails or facebooks, yet they were connected in real ways. They walked with each other, they traveled with each other, they *gasp* talked to one another. Actually talked, not texted! I have to think that these people, the original disciples, had to be the most spiritual and closest to Christ people that have ever walked the earth! Not just because they actually got to walk with Christ, but because they were legitimately connected to Him. They actually listened to His words. They actually listened to His stories. They actually heard His message.
Now granted, they may have had a slight advantage. The disciples got to walk and talk with a walking talking Messiah.
But, I would go so far as to say we have an opportunity to do the same. The Bible gives us the same words, the same stories, the same message, but we have failed to utilize those tools we’ve been given! We can’t pick up a Bible, because we can’t put down our phones or log out of facebook! (Just so you know I’m not just bashing facebook here, I’m most likely going to blog this article and post a link to that blog on my facebook account!)
So, people, I’m saying again, put the phones down! Look up from the computer screens every now and then! I’m not just telling you to do this, I’m YELLING at myself to do this! Our personal Lord and Savior can be as real today as He was to the disciples back then, the only difference is, WE have to be His voice! We have to walk and talk for Him! He’s given us the tools, I know you know Him, and I know you can do it. I know WE can do it!!! The question is…will we???
Wake up and see the clown around you! But not only that, wake up and see Christ around you! Wake up and make Christ walk and talk around you!!!
Love, peace, and all other things that matter,
Gabriel “Gabe” Stokes
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