I think I know why Patton was pushing me so hard to explore the greater significance of my initial glee over Apple’s new iPhone. He’s addicted to his own Blackberry/Treo/handheld thing. Patton, thank you for discussing the problem with us – getting help is always the first step to recovery. 
More seriously, I understand your problem. I had my first Blackberry when I was at the White House. It was actually a status symbol. Those with Blackberry’s were the more senior folks on staff. Some junior staff actually bought their own so that they could look cooler even though they couldn’t actually get email on them – such is the insanity behind the White House’s iron gates. And it was addicting. It gave me the great illusion of power and significance – if I was getting lots of emails all of the time then I mattered. Most everyone felt that way. This is hardly isolated to the White House, of course, hence the popularity of the device.
One of the happiest days of my life, however, was when I turned in my Blackberry. That was a little more than three years ago. I have no interest in getting another one. Increasingly, I try and go places without my cell phone (something my wife, who actually works in the cell phone industry, finds particularly annoying) just so that I can be places where I am out of touch.
How does this fit with my wanton adoration of the iPhone? I just thought – and still think though the passion has greatly dulled – it was gorgeous and wonderful and cool. And that is that.
Deeper issues?
Consumerism, materialism, greed…the stuff our economy depends on cultivating within us. I was in the pharmacy the other day to pick up something and decided to count the different kinds of Valentine’s Day candy that was displayed. I believe I got up to like 70 before I stopped. The other day I wanted to get some new sidewalk chalk for Livvy and looked online at Amazon…there were three pages of choices.
Meanwhile, as I have written these words, thousands of children will have died around the world from poverty, malnutrition, and preventable disease….
I remember talking to a cab driver about such things one day. He was from Haiti. He loved Jesus. We talked about his country’s dire poverty and I asked him if he was angry at God about it. “Angry at God?” he said quizzically, “Why?” Because, I explained, because his country was so poor. “That is not God’s fault. He has given this world plenty. The fault is ours because we do not share.”
There is a way to share and we can find it.
posted January 18, 2007 at 2:40 pm
David,Have you ever been to a Conservative Evangelical Church? The ubiquity in Conservative Churches of sharing the Gospel with the poor, their money with the poor and their TIME and lives with the poor all over the Earth? While the Left tries to get Democrats elected to impose godless-socialism and anti-Christian and anti-freedom legislation on Americans, the Evangelical Christians are “still” helping others in word and deed. It’s sad seeing you head in the direction you are David. Turning left only heads one downward.
posted January 18, 2007 at 8:23 pm
When my youngest child was almost 5, she was diagnosed with one of those nasty pediatric cancers. It took her childhood. She relapsed at 8 and somehow – against every odd that there was – survived and is amazingly healthy. She turned 40 on her fifth birthday in many ways and her life has been about serving others. Spends Spring breaks doing service, gets after her parents for waste and consumerism (although she’d really like one of those cool little Macs.) dreams about what a world based on fair trade and compassion might look like. She said once that when you’ve received so much – so many prayers – so much goodness from others – the only way to spend your life is to somehow pay that forward. Living in a “conservative” worldview or a “liberal” worldview is rather a silly way to determine the way to live this life given to us by the Creator. It becomes narrow and mean spirited and the necessity of accusing others to maintain a sense of being right – well – I’m as guilty of it as anyone. My daughter is not. The transformation of her life rubs off on others and we want to be better Christ-followers. It also requires her to diseent at times. I suppose, I wish for all of us to know such people – they are our hint of the Kingdom, our imitations of Christ sometimes.
posted January 19, 2007 at 5:51 am
Great post! The wisest words so often come from places like that. I appreciate that you acknowledge your own pleasure in useless things at the same time. We all struggle even when we see the truth clearly.Too bad you haven’t decided to ban Donny/Dawnee. Her only purpose is to poison this site. She must spend hours per day reading and commenting on blogs at Beliefnet and other places. I understand you are keeping this open, but you don’t have to be ideological about it. This is your blog… Think about it. Americans in general are very generous with their money. The pay taxes and then turn around and give from their pocketbooks when there’s a disaster. But Americans are also tremendously wealthy. I live in Japan, and I can say beyond a doubt that the average Japanese person living in Tokyo has much less real wealth (esp. in terms of land, free time, money for vacations) than the average American. Americans are the elite. So how much do we give? I believe the average American gives away less than 5 percent of his/her income. Evangelicals, if I remember, give slighly more on average (maybe 6 percent, but a very large share of that goes to pay for buildings, salaries, etc). All the same, 6 percent is nothing to celebrate. In the end, the 1 or 2 percent that we give toward compassion (food for the hungry, clothes for the naked, etc.) may look like alot but it’s not. We need mercy from God ourselves on this, and yet we give ourselves praise?