Through your eyes, not your screens

Recently, I attended a wedding. 

We’ve known the couple for a few years now and were pleased to accept the invitation to the ceremony. As the ceremony started, the pastor conducting the service said something to the effect of ‘S & C would appreciate it if you viewed today’s ceremony through your eyes and not through your screens.’

 It was a creative way of saying ‘don’t take photos and don’t post on your socials while you’re here’. Be present. Connect with people. Don’t look at your phones.

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, we spend too much time on screens.  On public transport, people have their phones out.  Waiting in a queue, waiting for takeaway, waiting in a waiting room – people get their phones out to while away the time. 

My little protest is that I refuse to get my phone out just to pass time.

I know that if I do, I will mindlessly scroll through news headlines, check my emails or messages (in case something important has come in since the last time I looked) and lose track of time. I will ‘know more stuff’, but I won’t necessarily be smarter for the experience.

Sometimes, temptation gets the better of me, and I whip my phone out and join the rest of the people looking down at a screen instead of up and seeing what’s going on around me. 

In 1993, the Christian musician Rich Mullins released the album “A Liturgy, A Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band”. It has been one of the most influential albums for me and still is a regular part of my playlist. 

The opening track ‘Here in America’ contains the line “There’s so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see/But everywhere I go, I’m looking.”

It is profoundly simple in its meaning. Look. See. Observe. Take time to notice what’s around you. The natural wonder of creation. The industry of people as they go about their business.

In an even older hymn, the author writes “He gave us eyes to see them / And lips that we might tell / How great is God almighty / Who has made all things well.”

So put your phone down… and lift your eyes.