My most favorite book of all time is The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I try to read it to my students every year, and there's no telling how many times I've read it personally. Since the Hollywood industry also made a movie out of it, there's a good chance you've either seen it or read it, so I'll spare you the details of the plot. In one part, though, the young boy named Edmund is being baited by the White Witch by a dessert called Turkish Delight. It is apparently a delicious little cake-like treat that only makes his mouth water for more once he's eaten it. The Witch refuses to give him more then, but bribes him to follow her with the promise of a castle full of Turkish Delight later. (She is, of course, lying. She's a witch after all.)
After the movie came out, some Christian artists compiled a cd of new songs based on the movie. One of them is called "Turkish Delight" by the David Crowder Band and I was listening to it the other day. One of the recurring lines says (in reference to Turkish Delight) "The more I have, the more I want." How perfect?!
The more I have, the more I want. This could be the motto for our American culture or my own selfish spirit. It certainly reiterates the themes of Seven. And it perfectly describes our media problem.
In this age we literally have the world at our fingertips. Our smartphones now can do more than any computer from my childhood could ever do. (Plus, they fit in our pockets!) We can look up anything, anytime, anywhere. This sounds like a technological miracle, and it kind of is. But too much of a good thing often ruins us, and it often leaves us wanting more. I think this has happened to most of
us, even if we refuse to admit it.
I read a study a couple years ago that stated our attachment to our phones has become personal, emotional, and almost intimate. We are in love with our phones. Think about it - we take it with us wherever we go and feel utterly lost without it. It is often the first thing we look at in the morning and the last thing we look at before bed. We talk and confide in it more than actual people (I.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, texting...). We use it to pacify our children. We use it to wake us up each day, to remind us of our appointments, to order gifts for our real - life friends, to... Well, the list goes on and on. We have gotten to the point where we think we can't live without it and we keep it close by at all times. With the exception of the pronoun "it" instead of "he" or "she," doesn't our phone sound more like a spouse than an inanimate object?
But we love it! It runs our lives! (Funny how just adding an "i" to run could make ruin...) And we want more. We want more apps, more space, more information, more convenience. We don't even want phones anymore, we want to put all of this stuff into watches and eyeglasses. I shudder to think of the day we will decide to implant these things into our bodies. You know it's coming.
The more I have, the more I want. Well, I'm sick of it. Really, I am. When will I let enough be enough? I'm praying to break this never-ending spiral of technology/media addiction this week. I want more of God, not the world.
-Heather
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