I often climb into my truck to go somewhere and then realize that I have forgotten something. Usually it is my water bottle or mobile phone. This requires turning my truck off because the house key is on the same key ring as the truck key, walking back to the house and unlocking it to look for the phone, followed by a repetition of letting myself out, locking the door, and restarting my truck. Getting into my truck during winter is challenging in itself due to the cumbersome layers of clothing and bulky coats that I must wear. This happened to me yesterday and while I was going to do only a couple of errands a short distance away, I realized how addicted I have become to my mobile phone. I justify my need to have it near me because I want the assurance that if I have car trouble, I can call for help.
Our modern society lives with an underlying anxiety of “what if?” A certain level of fear is maintained by the media and by others who may fear for their own safety or our own. Many elderly people have been convinced to invest in an emergency device to call for help if they fall or need medical assistance. They, and their loved ones, have fallen for the false belief that Death should never come for them. They believe in the illusion that their life can be “saved.”
Why do so many wish to cling to life, refusing to accept its infallible impermanence? They want to be “saved” by the medical “gods” while they are alive and if that does not succeed, they want to be “saved” by Jesus, ensuring that they will be transported to an imaginary heaven after they die.
I will probably continue to keep my phone near me, as most people do these days, but my main justification is not for my own safety. It is for my cat, who is left alone whenever I am gone. If something happens to me, I want to know that I can call on a family member or friend to look after him. My phone is a handy tool, but I do not depend on it to save my life. I limit my consumption of coffee and I limit my dependency on my phone!
