By Rachel Allison
This past week I had the opportunity to spend five days in a remote mountain cabin with two brothers, a sister, and my mother. There was no electricity, so we didn’t have television, telephone coverage, or the Internet. We worked together on cabin projects. We visited. We hiked. We read. Together we sat on the porch swings and basked in the wonder of nature and the elements. We stayed up late into the night reminiscing and laughing over family memories. What an experience!
As much as I LOVE air conditioning in the summer, and as much as I love the capability of contacting my children on our cell phones, I wonder if technology doesn’t interfere with family time, communication and togetherness.
What would it be like to enter our homes and keep the air conditioning, but ban television, radio, or telephone interruptions? Would it encourage communication with live people…our family? Would it free up an hour or two for family work projects, play time, and the teaching time that families are craving?
I have read accounts of those who have witnessed the devastation of 9/11, tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes. As people and families try to put their lives back together always there is the crying out for family: “Where is my mother?” “I can’t find my son.” “I’ve lost a sister.” These people may be hungry and frightened. They may have lost everything, but what they wanted and needed most were their families.
The disintegration of the family is taking place all over the world. We read about it. We observe it. Unlike 9/11 or Katrina, perhaps the devastation has taken place so gradually that we have unknowingly allowed it to happen.
I wish that every family could experience what I experienced this past week with members of my family in a remote mountain cabin … unfortunately that won’t happen unless we make it happen. The good news is that we don’t need a remote mountain cabin…we just need to tune in to our families, giving them the LOVE, TIME, and UNDIVIDED ATTENTION each family member needs to feel a significant and valued part of our family.