
On a Buckeye Back Road Tour stop in Kalida, Ohio, I came across an actual pay phone. (For those of you under, say, 35, Google: pay phone.) When you were out and about “…back in the day,” you actually had to find one of these babies in order to make a phone call to someone. Now it’s an I-phone 12 with 5G. But is the latter the ultimate “smart phone,” or, well, the ultimate “dumb phone”? You see, these phones call, text, stream, Google… In turn, many people have become hopelessly addicted to their I-phones. Quality time with God, with family members, with friends, with community volunteering, with work… all get shorted, more, and more, and more… The Book of Revelation talks about a “false idol” that evolves, and that practically everyone worships. Uh, wouldn’t take an Old Testament prophet on his game, so to speak, to figure out that that’s (worshipping) what many of us are doing with these phones (personal computers, television sets…). Note: I’m a former addictions counselor and know how insidious, and destructive, addictions can be — both emotionally and spiritually.