I Wish

I have had a memory in my mind lately that has brought lots of ideas that I wanted to share with each of you.  Yesterday while we watched BYU get walloped I was on the computer, Lincoln had ear plugs in and was listening to something on his phone, Ruth, Jane and Duncan at different times were looking at phones.  I grew up just as the television came into the lives of most Americans.  I still remember watching television when I was just a young girl.  Every Friday night my dad would watch the fights and my mom would sit on the floor with me and we'd play jacks by the television.  We all knew that when dad watched the fights none of us were to sit close because dad became a boxer and he would often help the bower on the television by punching out!  I grew to love mysteries as I sat with my parents and watched Perry Mason each week and as you know we are still watching Perry Mason.  Our first colored television came into our home when I was a senior in high school.  It was in a beautiful wood cabinet and on top was a bull that someone had given my mom.  There were I think only three channels you could watch.  ABC, CBS and NBC.   Each night the shows on the television would end with the news.  On one of the channels a commentator said each night, "Parents, it's 10 o'clock.  Do you know where your children are?"  I don't know when it started again in the morning.

Now I will tell you what I remember the most.  Almost year around--because we lived in Phoenix we sat outside in the front yard talking.  We'd have dinner and then my sister and I would do the dishes and when we finished we'd head outside to play with ALL the kids in the neighborhood.  It didn't matter what age--everyone congregated and we played ball, jacks, hide and seek, kick the can, or rode bikes, jumped rope, and played tag.  The whole time my parents and their neighbors sat in their front yards talking until it got dark.  Eventually the playing stopped and we joined our parents.  We talked a little but mostly listened.  That is where we heard stories of family members, challenges of jobs, politics, religion, and advice given that was seldom solicited!  In our house the television was seldom on unless it was something my dad wanted to watch.  We knew if we watched it too much we wouldn't have a television at all.  Those times helped me know that my dad was surprisingly smart and that my mom was even smarter and very patient.     It provided me with a moral compass that directed me through much of my life.

I truly enjoy some of Facebook.  I love having information at my fingertips from Wikipedia but still remember the first set of encyclopedias my parents got for our family and loved looking at page after page enjoying the pictures of places and people I never knew about.  Pinterest has given me the courage to try all kinds of things because of people sharing their talents.  Because of social media the gospel is at our fingertips to find inspiration with a touch of the screen.  But I also miss sitting around as a family with nothing pulling us away from each other.  I'm sure my parents felt the same way about television when the kids sat hypnotized for hours watching Looney Tunes.

I don't have an answer about how to change the world that has crept into our homes.  I know it is not good even though I know our children and grandchildren are.  I pray that each of you will use your knowledge of right and wrong to take steps back from the need to be always connected to things and again become connected to each other.   Your devices are welcome in our home but know that when you are here I will always pray that you will want to put them down and just talk!