Everything is amazing and no one is happy

Photo from SDASM Archives, used under Creative Commons license
Photo from SDASM Archives, used under Creative Commons license

Kira Roberts, Editor-in-chief

   Everyone has little things that never cease to irk him or her.  For me, those annoyances typically come from slow or malfunctioning computers and devices.  I think I probably inherited this technologically inept condition from my sweet mother, along with my ‘punny’ humor, lanky physique and propensity to cry at everything…but that is beside the point.  The point is, everything is amazing and no one is happy.  I know. I know. That is too profound of a statement to bring up so lightly.  Truth be told I did not come up with it, but it has had a more significant effect on me than I would have expected.

   If you take Science, Technology and Society with Dr. Young, you will probably watch a video of Louis C.K. on Conan at some point during the semester.  In eight minutes and one radical statement, my perspective about life and our conveniences was totally altered.  I have always known that I take most things in life for granted, so I do my best to treasure the relationships and commodities that I am blessed with.  However, I realize even more now just how incredible everything is.  We have machines to wash our clothes and dishes, heat our food and take us miles away in a matter of minutes.  We can relax in a seat 30,000 feet above the ground taking us across the world, and still we complain about the business of airports, delays and limited legroom.  Wait, what? You are flying through the air like a bird people! That is amazing!

   We have everything, so why is no one happy?  When did we start thinking that the world owed us something… like technology… like it’s an actual human right?

   “When you have a slightly slow signal on your PDA, or it takes more than 30 seconds to download a picture on your iPhone, and that irritates you, something is very, very wrong,” Louis said.

   Maybe there is something wrong here, with our society, with our generation.  We are so used to the conveniences that we have grown up with that the amazing has become the norm; we have no incredulity left for innovation and creativity, especially when it comes to technology.  So what are we to do?

   Obviously it is not a bad thing to use the commodities offered to us.  In fact, in order to function and flourish in today’s culture, it is actually important to utilize them on a daily basis.  But we cannot allow our relationships and life to be defined by these devices.  We cannot stop intentionally seeking out face-to-face conversations and hands on entertainment.  We cannot run our lives from behind a screen, organizing and dreaming and planning…we need to go, do and be what we were made to be in the world.  It is my humble opinion that we will never truly be content until our joy is in Christ alone. No new invention or update will fill us with unfailing joy like he will.  My challenge to you today is to realize just how amazing everything is and then think about just how much more incredible is the God who created the creators of all this stuff.

   Have you ever tried going an entire day without complaining about a single thing? It is much harder than it sounds.  Give it a try!