I teach a YSA gospel doctrine class in my ward here. We've been having the same lessons you've been having, (with exception of a few of those Utah wards ;) ) about Revelation and its eternal importance. I've been trying to think about it a lot lately and in the attempt have realized how limited and scarce the valuable resource of quiet time to ponder has become in my life. Any time that I've had today is being spent now as I compose this post, and I almost feel guilty doing so because "I don't have the time to spare."
I was speaking this weekend with a good friend of mine, Steve Huff, about how crazy our work, school, etc. schedules are, especially as Americans. We rarely take time off. I studied in Italy a few summers back and was amazed at the social atmosphere of the community. People were always getting together, discussing their families, politics, youth trends. It was after midnight and we saw two "Italian Grandmas" hobbling down the alley way with their lawn chairs just to sit in the piazza and be with one another.
We have SO many modern conveniences that supposedly save time so that we can allocate it in more important ways. We have dishwashers, laundry machines, telephones, online banking, etc. Perhaps these things do save us time, but what have we collectively chosen to do with that time? For each person time allocation varies from playing video games, to watching TV to earning two PHDs. It is evident that as a whole our society has not chosen to devote our "extra" time to being with family, friends, engaging in philosophical and religions discussion, quiet moments, pondering, and prayer. We seem to do less and less of these types of activities all the time. Why do you think this is? Any ideas of what can be done socially, politically, or otherwise in the future to help Americans realign their priorities? Blogging may be a good start ;-)
2 years ago
2 comments:
Mary, definitely a point worth pondering. In fact, I bet it's why people haven't responded to this entry yet. It makes me think of a time when I was sitting on the porch talking on the phone. I think it was to you, about a decision I'd made to simply slow down. I know that feeling that your life is running you rather than you running your life. And it's all you can do to just try and keep up. One of the best things I've ever learned is that I have agency. Thanks to God and others, I have the luxury of choosing my pace.
A related thought:
Before all this technology and development, many families spent their time farming. An "anonymity" recently told me about his current favorite game which he plays on the computer, "Harvest Moon." One must feed, brush, herd and milk the cows, give them medicine, and provide friendly conversation to foster affection. That same farmer must water the property, court women, cut woods, expand fences, plow fields, cut crops, sell or incubate the eggs, ship produce, manage profits, cut fodder, prepare to annex a house and get married, attend festivals, and buy thoughtful presents. These things must be done in the appropriate time restraints. That is, you can't cut fodder in the winter. Autumn and winter you're workin with your livestock, just your chickens and your cows. As every farmer knows, spring and summer are the time for planting and harvesting. Buy cows as early as possible because it takes 21 days before they can produce milk. Many things must be done daily such as tending to his cow whom he calls "Tess, a pure cow."
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