Out of Touch

This morning while sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office (long story – I'll post it later), I was reminded of something that came up in our weekly small group. We are becoming more and more disconnected from everyone around us.

This mother and son were each playing with their own Nintendo DS systems while waiting for the doctor. Neither said a word to the other, focused instead on the little piece of technology in front of them. Ironically I was listening to my iPod at the time, but it still made me think of how much we don't interact with anyone anymore. On days when I've gone to the doctor's office with either of my boys I've read books to them or watched them play with toys in the corner, but that scene is becoming more unorthodox with each visit.

With the dominance of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, the instant communication avenues of cell phones, PDAs, Instant Messaging and email, we feel connected to so many other people. A quick look at my Facebook profile assures me that I have 230 friends with whom I can converse, share ideas or compete over a friendly game of Wordscraper. But how many of them do I see regularly? How many have I sat down with over coffee or even seen face-to-face in the last week? Month? Year? We have the illusion of being connected, but that's all that it is. Even when calling someone now we can use their home, office or cellular number, but we are more apt to be greeted by their voicemail message than by they themselves.

So my challenge for this week – at least for myself – is to sit down with someone this week, in person, and reconnect. It's up to you if you choose to follow suit.