Observing Advent - Day 02 - Bound
Observing Advent - Day 02 - Bound How much do we miss when our eyes are down? More and more of us, myself included, spend far more of our time than we have before with our eyes down. Eyes bent down over a tablet or a smartphone. Eyes down to our texts as we are walking down the street, even eyes down as we are driving (Do not text and drive!). How much are we missing? As I was thinking of "Bound" today, I thought of the device that I have with me so much of my time - my iPhone. How often do I go somewhere without it? Pretty much never. In my job, I am technically "on call" the vast majority of the time and my phone is the way that people can reach me in an emergency. So its not quite as simple as just turning it off. But there is an element that goes beyond just having it for my job as a pastor. There is a feeling that at times I have bound myself to this device. I used those words deliberately - I choose to do that. I choose to look at it far too often. I choose to not leave it in another room while I am at home. I choose to pick it up and see what happened in the last 15 minutes in the games taking place. Its a choice that I have made. What would happen if I chose to look up and see what is around me? What would I see? What would I hear? What would happen? How would I see God in the ways that I would have otherwise missed. The picture above is of the mute switch and the power switch on my phone. Two ways I could choose to break the bondage. I thought of Luke 24 when the disciples encounter the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They had their heads down to speak as they were still grieving and were confused about what they had heard and then as Jesus broke the bread, their eyes were opened and they recognized him. If we let go of the bondage we have to the devices in our life, or the many other things we find ourselves in bondage to, what would we see? How would we see the reality of Christ at work? What relationships would be strengthened? What beauty would be witnessed? Let us look up today.