There
are some things that one can’t imagine how life would be without them. I
recall of a time when these were virtues; integrity, industry, truth,
love, fidelity and so on and so forth. Then gadgets and gimmicks came
along and crept into this precious list. Unbearable, a word that was
used to describe a marriage in the rocks, now describes time spent in
the country side; away from the internet, TV and the likes that are
associated with the “good life”. It is not an unusual sight to see
couples (even on their first date) fidgeting away on their mobile
phones, each lost in their own little worlds. It is usually our family
tradition to spend the Christmas season over at the farm and the
recently ended festive season was no exception. The menu consisted of
good food, pleasant conversations, enchanting music (tweeting birds) and
God’s presence abounding. To say that I miss those few days is an
understatement. I burn to re-live them!
Surely
that is how life is to be spent all year round-not just on special
occasions. Do we need an occasion to have a hearty laugh with our loved
ones? Most definitely not! Do we need to mark our calendars that on such
and such a day, I will tickle the ribs of a loved one? Most definitely
not! Do we need an occasion to share an out-of-the-usual warm meal with a
loved one? Most definitely not! Oh! Those days will linger in my memory
for some good time to come. However, one thing sure fueled this most
cherished period. We had no TV, we had no computer and we had no radio.
We had each other. It was then that it dawned on me how much these
gadgets have taken over our dear lives. Think about it. How are our
living rooms arranged? Who, or rather what, takes the center stage? The
faces of our loved ones or some bunch of foolhardy people in an
electronic box (read TV) out for attention, fame and a quick buck? How
about the dining table? Forgive me but if my memory serves me right,
there was a time when eating away from the table was a most grievous
sin. Now we put food on the plate and run back to worship our small gods
in our living rooms and bedrooms. Where are the times when “ DTTs”
(Dining Table Talks) were a time to catch up, impart life-giving
knowledge and hear the good ol’ stories of our loved parents in their
hey days? Ah! My heart sobs! We have lost something.
I
look at the social skills of the older folk compared to my generation,
and it occurs to me that we have most definitely lost something. We can
regain it but first, we have to know what we have lost. And if by
reading these few sentences you haven’t realized what it is we have
lost, then you are a clear statistic we need help. Help from above to
open the eyes of our hearts that we may truly see....................
I
have another reason why I have quit watching TV-a more personal one but
not private. Several times Jesus exhorts us to watch our steps with the
Almighty cautiously. He reminds us that the eyes are the light of the
body. If our eyes are good, then our whole body is full of light. If our
eyes are bad, our whole body is full of darkness. Simple logic yet
there is nothing simple in its application. He goes on further saying
that if the right eye causes us to sin, we should gouge it out and throw
it away, for it is better to lose one part of the body and go to heaven
than save the whole body and be thrown in hell. Okay, after the
utterance of such from one with the highest authority, any sane person
would halt in their tracks and ponder for a while. If I was to take this
literally, I would have been totally blind right after birth! However,
the “SSS” rule saves our skin from such imbecility. Scripture Supports
Scripture, hence Paul exhorts us to throw off everything that hinders
and the sin that easily entangles so that we can run well the race
marked out for us. There is the major reason for my quitting watching
TV. I am a Christian i.e. a follower of Christ (hence the name
Christian). That comes before all else; my family, my career, my public
outlook, my second name and most of all, my self- my old self to be
precise. If anything makes me less of a Christian, it’s not worth
keeping. And TV is not worth keeping. I have fought with this for quite
some time. How am I going to relate with family and friends? How will I
respond to the kind gesture of a host who wants to watch TV and asks for
my company? I do realize this will ruffle some feathers. I also realize
that I might be alienating myself from others. This is not pleasant at
all. Then again, the Christian walk has never been pleasant. It may be
full of mirth but this is not wrought from without but rather from
within. How will my family (parents and siblings) feel when I sit alone
on the dining table, munching away? Well, as cold as this may sound, I
am not responsible for how they will respond. However, I am responsible
for my Christian walk. I will not be crippled by TV. And boy, there is
nothing more crippling than lust birthed by watching TV. It is a
starving leech that sucks the joy out of the Christian experience. One
day I will appear before my Lord and give an account of how I lived. Be
far from it that He should find me unworthy of His presence because I
preferred TV to Him in this life. He paid a dear price to redeem me. I
should not take that lightly.
Secondly,
there are too many trivialities on TV. Look at all the series that make
murder look like a walk in the park. There was a time when tragedy was
just that-tragedy. It would birth compassion for the bereaved but now,
thanks to TV, tragedy amuses us. We sit long hours in front of this god
and derive pleasure from criminal investigations regardless of how our
hearts are becoming increasingly cold. Forgive me but I do recall the
words of the wisest that our hearts should be guarded jealously for from
them flow the issues of life. Then again, maybe I am growing old-not
flowing with the times. Well, if it means losing my heart in the
process, Count me out!
This
is how things are going to be. I will eat my food in the dining room.
Whoever needs my company, they know where to find me. I will not share
my love for them with TV. I will enforce this in my home. The dining
room is a sanctuary where we relax, let down our defenses and be our
very true selves. It is the one place where a rebuke can be given
without the stroke of the cane. Someone give me a reason for exchanging
this divine providence with gadgets and gimmicks? This is one privilege I
will not allow to be taken away from my family (wife and children). I
pray for a like-minded wife otherwise we would be having world war three
at every meal. I will put my Lord before me at all times and should He
impress upon my heart to quit another thing, then by His good grace I
will. I sure will.
NB:
I wrote the above article when self control was not a friend. Hence, it
was important to take such a drastic action until I learnt how to use
TV for good. Now that I have, I now watch TV but only what edifies and
draws another to Christ and not from. God bless you all.
