Relationships and electronics

There is an old story about a country that was conquered by a foreign king. The king called-in the Bishop of the local church and demanded "all the treasures of the Church" to be brought to him. The Bishop told him that it might take him a couple of days but that he would, indeed, round-up all the Church treasures and bring them to the new king.

A couple of days later the Bishop appeared in the King's Court. Right behind the Bishop was a bunch of local people.... some finely dressed, some appearing to be dressed very poorly.
The King said to the Bishop, "What have you brought me? Who are all these people? Where's the treasure I told you to bring?"
The Bishop looked up at the king and with a smile on his face said, "These, Sir....ARE the treasures of the Church! These are all people whom God has chosen to make-up HIS Kingdom!.... They are the only true treasures that the Church has."
I'm sure the Bishop was summarily executed by the new king... but, the point was well taken.




People....
People who need people...
Are the luckiest people in the world....

(O.K., How did Barbra Streisand get into my blog?)..... OUT! .... NOW!

My wife and I were at a popular restaurant yesterday evening.

There was a young couple at the table behind us. Husband, wife and small child. The child couldn't have been older than perhaps 5 or 6 years. The little boy was holding some sort of phone, playing video games. His parents were sitting across from each other, both of them on their respective cellphones, chatting away.


A snapshot of the modern American family.....

It seems electronic devices have taken over the world, ... and, most of all, taken over the conversation.
It's so funny,... how we don't t-a-l-k anymore....
(That's another song,... can't remember who it was by).....

But it's too true. We are such a technological society that we are now so absorbed with electronics that it hardly leaves room for conversation, let alone "relationships".

It's a new year.... a new beginning.... a chance to start over....


I hope that if you have children, or a spouse, or a friend,... that you won't neglect them. Keep the conversation going,... or, start conversations that have been lacking.

There is nothing more important than our relationships with other people....and God, of course.

Which reminds me...
A professional football player recently dropped a pass in a big game. He went home and "tweeted" God. Told God, "I praise You 24/7, and what do YOU do? You let me drop the ball!".... (This from a guy who will make more money playing one year of football than I will make in a lifetime). God really gave him a raw deal!....
Actually, if he's going to be mad at God, the tweet should have been, "Hey God, why did you make me one of the stupidest people on the planet?"...... tweeting God....brilliant...

I don't think God reads our "tweets",... but, I think He is involved in our conversations, and more specifically, our relationships.

This year I hope all of us will concentrate on what is really important..... our relationships. These are our true treasures.... other people.

Don't let technology, .....whether it's television, texting, tweeting, Facebooking, video games or whatever, rob you of the unique opportunity to have real, true relationships....