Measuring life by the Golden Rule … not a cellphone app – Bristol Herald Courier (press release) (blog)

We were sitting in front of the fireplace, relaxing in the warm glow, each reading some light material, almost dozing. Outside our den windows, the sun had retreated and swept away the last beautiful tones of a lingering sunset. Suddenly the serene darkness was interrupted by the sound of raindrops on our roof.

In unison, Sammie and I raised our heads from the books in which we had been engrossed and looked at each other. First to speak, she addressed me with a simple question. Is that rain? she asked quietly.

After a slight pause in the conversation a chance to make a decision of whether to drag myself from the comfort of my chair, force myself to take the half-dozen steps across the room, turn on the back porch light, peer through the glass at the drops of water bouncing off the deck or not I answered.

Just a minute, Hon. I dug into my pocket. Let me check the Weather Channel App on my phone and Ill see what its doing.

Of course I was at least half kidding in an attempt to entertain my wife, who seemed to be getting a bit bored with her book. On the other hand, I was only half kidding. I knew we were getting precipitation in the Fairmount hood, but before we began our discussion of the weather, I thought it might be wise to check the weather app for the forecast. The current temperature, the expected overnight low, predictions for hourly conditions over the next forty-eight hours, projections for the next fifteen days, and maybe even what those same projections were for the cities where all of our relatives reside.

Could I get you to participate in a very unscientific experiment with me? Take a simple survey. One question. If youd like to be a part of this study email your answer to me at the address below. Heres the question: Do you believe we the people have become too dependent on our technical device? (Emphasis is on the word Too.) Please send your response ASAP so I can tally the results. I will be watching my phone for your Yes or No by email.

Seriously nowdo you ever see people sitting together in a restaurant, texting instead of carrying on a conversation? Maybe theyre checking their email, watching the news or a ballgame, or playing a game? Perhaps they are texting the person sitting across the table.

How many times have you seen someone texting or watching a movie while they drive? Scary, huh? Have you ever done any of the above? Honestly! Okay! I have done some of those things, but I have never texted while driving. Maybe Ive read a text while sitting at a red light, but I didnt send a text and I always put my phone down when the impolite driver behind me blew his horn impatiently.

Here are a couple of thoughts for you while you prepare to take the survey:

First, the Golden Rule says, Do to others as you would have them do to you. (NIV)

Second, humans can predict the weather, but we cant control it. Matthew 5:45 tells us that God sends sunshine on the good and evil alike and He causes it to rain on the righteous as well as the unrighteous. And in John 3:8 we find these words, The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it, but you cant tell where it comes from or where its going. (Prognosticate means to offer an educated guess.)

As the weather goes, I must agree with Mark Twain (or maybe it was Charles Dudley Warner), when he said, Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

As far as the Golden Rule goes, our world would be a better place if we would just do it!

We talk about the weather more than we discuss the Golden Rule. Just remember: you cant do anything about the weather, but you can do something about the way you treat other peoplewhether on an electronic device, driving or just living in general!

Steve Playl is chaplain at Bristol Regional Medical Center. He may be contacted at playlsr@yahoo.com.

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Measuring life by the Golden Rule ... not a cellphone app - Bristol Herald Courier (press release) (blog)