Screen time.

I hate it.

When I was a kid I spent way too much time in front of the TV. I watched all kinds of things, especially sports. Even sports I didn’t play like bowling and tennis.

Bowling? Seriously? (gives a sheepish nod)

But now I get that soul tightening feeling when I spend too much time in front of a screen. It never fails that the more time I spend glued to a screen the more I feel enslaved to it. Others may be able to take it or leave it without any pang of conscience. Perhaps I am being overly scrupulous.

There is a time and place for entertainment but how much do I really need? And does this screen time really refresh or does it suck my soul dry and shrivel it up?

There are definitely activities that I can pursue that will feed and enlarge my soul.

Writing, music, reading, nature.

These things contain a certain potential to draw me out of myself and into beauty.

And beauty is soul food.

“And there’s so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see…” Rich Mullins

Grace is writ large everywhere around us in his creation. From the night sky to the intricate design of a buttercup. To uncover it and even create it yourself is to enter into the Creator’s work, and perhaps, even enter into worship.

The flight of a monarch and the color green can make my soul unfurl.

But the swiping of the screen or the changing of a channel or the incessant Facebook scrolling can immediately tighten it.