Are YOU Virtually Removed From the Here and Now: (Audio)

As a pastor, teacher and presenter on so many different levels, I have found a visible distraction before me that disturbs me to no end! People sitting in the audience with their bodies present, but their senses distracted by the cell phone they hold in their hands. Their minds have zoomed off into a Virtual World that may be miles away. Emails, Social Media, and even Games are distracting them from participating “Live and In Person!”

I’m sure it’s like writing notes in a classroom of the 60’s and trying to pass it across the room to a reader. And, just as sure am I, that the teacher would have taken the note and read it aloud to the classroom, punished the writer and distributor, and then go back to teaching with a forced attention from the audience….

That’s how attention was forced focus back then! But today is different. Use the old techniques of classroom dynamics and the audience would probably get up and walk out!

It has been said that technology brings us closer together and widens the opportunity of having more friends. At the same time, technology keeps us behind barriers of distance and device and prevents us from getting to know the person in the room with us!

Now. I’m guilty of the same thing, as an audience member, that is… If the speaker and subject do not captivate me, then I’m quick to find something else to give my attention to and will enjoy the mental break from the physical world. I’ve done this with novels inside of textbooks during my growing up years! Caught! Called out! Punished! And the novel on the teacher’s desk till class is over!

Equally, we withdraw from live conversations the same way. Looking for another virtual thought world to focus on instead of the person standing in front of us.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not offended at these distractive forces, but I do wonder about the distracted driving that goes on by the same folks! Their phone is the most important thing to them, and the virtual world it creates when it rings zips them out of being aware of the road before them!

Again, I’m not upset at the person. I’m concerned about the colossal waste of time of the audience and presenter. Why even participate from if the entire audience is distracted enough to dive into a virtual world of Solitaire?

There are many Science Fiction stories dating back decades of the future holding us captive from physical contact and we only exist virtually. This gives us physical protection, boldness to say what we want, and the ability to drop out of one world and enter another world. Instantly.

We gain one way and lose the ability to build close relationships with the person physically in the same space.

This is nothing new. From the Old Testament prophet, all the way to Jesus quoting Isaiah, it is said:

These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me. (Matthew 15:8 AMP)

We are often guilty of distracted living and this affects every single one of us. Maybe we should practice being present in the moment and pay attention to the Live and Physical World we are living in!

By Michael Gurley

Making Sense of Life, One Thought at a Time!