Technology: a blessing and a curse?

A month ago, in an effort to cut back some of our monthy cost, my husband and I decided to send me back to the stone ages :) and canceled my data package on my touchscreen android phone. Oh how I was lost for a few days. I mean what on earth was I going to do to occupy my time. After a few days I realized just how much time I was actually spending on my phone; checking my g-mail, facebook, playing games, etc. This got me thinking with all the wonderful things at our fingertips what are we missing. Let me clarify that I am not at all against the advances in technology. My husband uses his phone for his job and a dear friend of mine was able to have face time with her great grandmother in another state and she will probably be going to Heaven soon. So I think that technology is wonderful, but how much does it take from our lives. Now days when you are in a waiting area or even sitting at a resturaunt almost every person is on some type of device. I heard on the radio that it is not unusual for teenagers to be in the room, and not saying a word. Instead they are texting each other. We are loosing our social skills because we do the majority of our conversations on facebook, e-mail, tweeter, or text. Something my pastor said that really made me think. He said "Is there so much world noise that you can't hear the Lord. That the Lord's voice is drowned out by all the noise" Then I read an article that was saying that Joshua Bell (one of the most talented musicians in the world) played his 3.5million dollar violin in disguise inthe metro station of Washington D.C. and no one noticed. I had the privilige of seeing him in concert last year and he was amaizing. Tickets sell for around $100 and there in the metro staion everyone was so busy with their schedule and busy with their devices that they missed this amazing music. Only children stopped as their mother's rushed them along. How often are we so involved in our schedule and our own activites that we miss the beauty that is around. That we stop and "smell the roses" or lend a helping hand to someone in need. Reminding ourselves to live and enjoy where we are and what is around us. It is important to have a schedule, but there needs to be some flexibility in it. Most things that are memorable, breath taking, and the best moments of your life are not penciled in on the calendar. They are the times that are unexpected, unpredictable. I guess the conclusion I have come to is that I need to be more aware of the beauty that is around. That I don't let the noise of the world drown out the beauty that God has instore.