If I never have to overhear another inane cell phone conversation while standing in a checkout line, I will consider myself an abundantly blessed man. I cannot begin to count the number of times I have wanted to lovingly yet firmly say: “Friend, just because you have a cell phone, it does not mean you have to be constantly using it, especially when you, as you have so publicly demonstrated over the past few minutes, have NOTHING to say.”
I fear that the fine art of conversation, especially when there is a genuine balance of active listening and interesting speaking by each participant, will soon be added to the list of Gravely Endangered Species in North America. Already on that list is the spiritual conversation that one has with himself that the Scriptures call “meditation.”
For a person to be abundantly blessed of God, Psalm 1:2 declares that two things must be found within his life. First, he must delight in submitting to God’s authority to legislate what he thinks, feels, and does; he must savor the succulent milk and the nutrient-rich meat of God’s Word. Second, God authoritative Word is to be his continuous meditation. One source describes meditation as “pondering by talking to one’s self.”
In the hustle and bustle of life plus the ever-present allure of using one’s cell phone, tablet, I Pad, or other electronic devices to converse much about nothing, how often do you ponder upon some portion of God’s Word by talking to yourself about it? That, dear friend, is a great conversation worth having!
