The Journey 306
Read: 1 Kings 1; 26-29, Deuteronomy 17:14-20
Recently, Apple released its latest gizmo, the I Pad Mini. Apple was already the leader in 10 inch tablet market with its revolutionary I Pad 3. Now with the launch of I Pad mini, this is termed as a move done by Apple, to make its presence felt in the 7 inch tablet market, which is ruled by brands like Amazon, Samsung through their Kindle Fire HD tablets and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. Samsung also has made a giant step forward by launching Samsung Note 2. This device is called as “Phablets”. A term that is denoted for digital devices that are not as big as tablets, neither small as the size of mobile phones but something big enough to be used as both as a mobile phone and also as a tablet. Hence the term “Phablets”. Along with all these gadgets, comes the entry of Microsoft who for the first time is bringing out a tablet named Surface which has the latest Windows 8 operating system. Thus the consumer forums and the tech associations are predicting that as the competitions get fiercer day by day, it is the consumers who are going to benefit. Yes in one sense what these people are claiming seems to be right. One of the strangest thing here in the US, is that if you want to repair your gadgets like laptops, computers, mobile phones and other household electronic items, you need to sometimes pay more than 75% of the original price of the product. The reason the emphasis is not on reusing a product but recycling the product. Thus with new and new products coming into market, people are forced to throw way maybe their year old good products and jump into the bandwagon of buying the latest products. One of the psychological aspects of this craze is that till we get that particular product that we aspire, we have a feeling of incompleteness in our life. Day and night we could be dreaming about owning one, and feel so desolate at the thought that we don't have that particular gadget with us. This feeling of desolateness and emptiness get aggravated more when you realize that some of your friends have these latest gadgets. Thus there are many individuals who do not have the financial capacity to buy a certain electronic items, but because they feel so incomplete without that they would get these items even if it bought through loan payment. This is a world wide phenomena more rampant in India, where even the most poor household are tempted and fooled by media and marketing techniques of the company. But then what happens once you buy that product. Within a few days, the charm dies out and not only that the next and the latest product by another manufacturer, enters the market. Thus human being are deliberately thrown into a vicious cycle of buying, selling, buying and so on. I don't know how many families are going through crisis because of this tech buying neurosis. I am person who uses technology and digital media a lot, but we need to be very wise and prudent to discern what we need or in other sense what is essential and what is non essential and the discernment that life is more than acquisition of all these latest gadgets.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Deuteronomy 17: 14-20 and 1 Kings 10:26-29. These are the portions the describe the passion that King Solomon had in his life. He was the third king of Israel and he was the one who was responsible for the building of temple which was considered as one of the seven wonders in the ancient world. He was a man of wisdom [ 1 Kings 3: 10-28, 4: 30-34, 10:22-25]. His wisdom is seen not only in the way he ruled his kingdom but also in the way he made his kingdom rich and powerful, through the different strategic alliances that he made with others. But though he had God given wisdom there were certain elements in his life which brought about his downfall. When laws of God was very clear with respect to whom to marry, as far as the people of Israel was concerned, Solomon married pagan woman, not one but countless. Here the issue in marriage was not inter racial or an ethnic issue but it was a religious issue. Secondly he was bent on disobeying God by multiplying horses, chariots, gold and silver. Here is a king who feels life is wonderful and blessed if we have all the latest treasures and hence the craze for acquiring more and more in life, forgetting that more you acquire the more you are sucked into a violent and disastrous way of living. It is in this context that Jesus also said that the more we are concerned with the luxury our heart and our life will drift away from the Lord. ’ Where you treasure is there you heart will also be”[Mathew 6:21]. As companies bring more and more products and inject in us that feeling of incompleteness without their product, let us deliberately resist and affirm that completeness and blessedness of life is not to be seen in acquiring of the latest tech products, but in a constant realization that it is only in our relationship with our Lord, that life is complete and blessed. If technology does not help human being to that truth, then all that we own is useless and not worth buying.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Recently, Apple released its latest gizmo, the I Pad Mini. Apple was already the leader in 10 inch tablet market with its revolutionary I Pad 3. Now with the launch of I Pad mini, this is termed as a move done by Apple, to make its presence felt in the 7 inch tablet market, which is ruled by brands like Amazon, Samsung through their Kindle Fire HD tablets and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. Samsung also has made a giant step forward by launching Samsung Note 2. This device is called as “Phablets”. A term that is denoted for digital devices that are not as big as tablets, neither small as the size of mobile phones but something big enough to be used as both as a mobile phone and also as a tablet. Hence the term “Phablets”. Along with all these gadgets, comes the entry of Microsoft who for the first time is bringing out a tablet named Surface which has the latest Windows 8 operating system. Thus the consumer forums and the tech associations are predicting that as the competitions get fiercer day by day, it is the consumers who are going to benefit. Yes in one sense what these people are claiming seems to be right. One of the strangest thing here in the US, is that if you want to repair your gadgets like laptops, computers, mobile phones and other household electronic items, you need to sometimes pay more than 75% of the original price of the product. The reason the emphasis is not on reusing a product but recycling the product. Thus with new and new products coming into market, people are forced to throw way maybe their year old good products and jump into the bandwagon of buying the latest products. One of the psychological aspects of this craze is that till we get that particular product that we aspire, we have a feeling of incompleteness in our life. Day and night we could be dreaming about owning one, and feel so desolate at the thought that we don't have that particular gadget with us. This feeling of desolateness and emptiness get aggravated more when you realize that some of your friends have these latest gadgets. Thus there are many individuals who do not have the financial capacity to buy a certain electronic items, but because they feel so incomplete without that they would get these items even if it bought through loan payment. This is a world wide phenomena more rampant in India, where even the most poor household are tempted and fooled by media and marketing techniques of the company. But then what happens once you buy that product. Within a few days, the charm dies out and not only that the next and the latest product by another manufacturer, enters the market. Thus human being are deliberately thrown into a vicious cycle of buying, selling, buying and so on. I don't know how many families are going through crisis because of this tech buying neurosis. I am person who uses technology and digital media a lot, but we need to be very wise and prudent to discern what we need or in other sense what is essential and what is non essential and the discernment that life is more than acquisition of all these latest gadgets.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Deuteronomy 17: 14-20 and 1 Kings 10:26-29. These are the portions the describe the passion that King Solomon had in his life. He was the third king of Israel and he was the one who was responsible for the building of temple which was considered as one of the seven wonders in the ancient world. He was a man of wisdom [ 1 Kings 3: 10-28, 4: 30-34, 10:22-25]. His wisdom is seen not only in the way he ruled his kingdom but also in the way he made his kingdom rich and powerful, through the different strategic alliances that he made with others. But though he had God given wisdom there were certain elements in his life which brought about his downfall. When laws of God was very clear with respect to whom to marry, as far as the people of Israel was concerned, Solomon married pagan woman, not one but countless. Here the issue in marriage was not inter racial or an ethnic issue but it was a religious issue. Secondly he was bent on disobeying God by multiplying horses, chariots, gold and silver. Here is a king who feels life is wonderful and blessed if we have all the latest treasures and hence the craze for acquiring more and more in life, forgetting that more you acquire the more you are sucked into a violent and disastrous way of living. It is in this context that Jesus also said that the more we are concerned with the luxury our heart and our life will drift away from the Lord. ’ Where you treasure is there you heart will also be”[Mathew 6:21]. As companies bring more and more products and inject in us that feeling of incompleteness without their product, let us deliberately resist and affirm that completeness and blessedness of life is not to be seen in acquiring of the latest tech products, but in a constant realization that it is only in our relationship with our Lord, that life is complete and blessed. If technology does not help human being to that truth, then all that we own is useless and not worth buying.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla