My Phone Etiquette

I have owned a cell phone of some sort for about 10 years now. My first 7 or so years had the same flip phone and when it broke I moved to my beloved iphone. I love my iphone. For the first several months I could often be seen in the midst of a group with my head down checking email, googling something....over the last year I have been convicted to make the person in front of me more important than my phone. Hellooooooo, was that a news flash to me or what? It could be a clerk at Target, or a friend I am visiting with, but unless there are extenuating circumstances I just silence my phone when it rings to honor the person that is in my presence. Some people have to answer their phone because they are employed by someone who says, "you have to answer your phone." But for me, in the case I have to call someone back in 5 minutes, I imagine I will be with them sometime and need to silence my phone and they wont be made to feel that they aren't as important as the person on my phone. I really like to be an encouragement to the people God brings into my life, face to face. I think this is one way to let that person know they are important to me.

Most places in our country don't have front porch neighborhoods anymore, often times we barely even know those who live around us. Our computers have made it so we don't need to leave our house for much except work, and now our cell phones have made it common place to be on the phone in a grocery store, never making eye contact with those around us, checking out while still talking and leaving the store never even acknowledging the people around you or giving a smile so someone who might really need it.

If we turned the Good Samaritan into a modern day tale, likely it would have the first two people who unknowingly walked by the person on the street who needed help, but never even noticed their presence because they were caught up with their phone conversation. The third would be someone who wasn't attached to some form of electronic device or phone and have eyes to see what God is putting in front of him.

I have been the first type long enough, it is time to lift the scales from my ears and eyes and pay attention to the world around me again.