Oh, Be Careful Little Mind What You Judge

I had someone frown at me a while back as I accessed my iPhone during a time when she felt it was inappropriate to do so. She’s a lovely lady, very refined, always dressed to the nines and a dear friend, but a fair bit older than I am and quite traditional in her view of what constitutes decorum and “appropriate” behavior. She assumed I was checking my text messages during church, when I was actually looking up the scripture reference on my Bible app. 

Another person says I carry my phone around “like a security blanket. You're never without it, you access it frequently and it just seems to be an extension of your body." Guilty as charged. It is literally an aid to daily living, as essential as my eyeglasses or the multi-purpose tool he carries in his pocket, and the phone I never see out of his reach. 

It also helps me connect with friends and family members who live in all parts of the world. These aren’t my “online friends” vs. my “real life friends”. They are all real life friends and family. I connect with them in real time about real issues. We talk of loss and love and we share our funny and sad moments. This is an IRL (in real life) connection.

Oh, sure, there’s a lot of time wasting, useless stuff out there. But there’s a lot of value-added stuff too. Smart phones are now multi-use devices with hundreds of thousands of apps which do almost anything you want. I have 58 applications on mine but have downloaded, used and discarded at least a hundred more. I use at least 25 of these on a daily basis, and the rest on a weekly or monthly basis.

Here is a typical sample of the many faces of my iPhone:

1. Phone
2. Text Messages
3. Address Book
4. Email
5. Alarm Clock
6. Bible
7. Library
8. Internet
9. News reporter
10. Calendar & Appointment Book 
11. Weather Report
12. Notebook
13. Reminders
14. Map
15. Camera
16. Photo Album
17. Calculator
18. Voice Recorder
19. Dictionary & Thesaurus
20. Music Library
21. Movie Library
22. Banking Access
23. Scrabble
24. Social Media
25. Video Call
26. Restaurant Reviewer
27. Flight Tracker
28. Travel Agent
29. Devotional Reader
30. Social Convener
31. Personal shopper
32. Encyclopedia

So, next time you see someone on their smartphone, don’t assume they’re “just texting” or playing a game. Assume the best. It’s about relationships and knowledge, worship, utilities, memory aids, life skills and entertainment. It’s about using technology to help us connect to our world and to those we love. It's probably the way you're reading this blog post at this moment.

What's the primary reason you use your smart device?