Charlie Brown and Chex Mix
Last week we sat the kids down to a treat from our own childhoods: an evening of Chex Mix and Charlie Brown. Of course, while it was a special family evening that they will hopefully remember as fondly as we did such evenings, it was limited to just that—a family moment. When we were kids in the late seventies, such an evening would have been a nationwide moment. Sometimes nostalgia is silly. Who would ever wish to go back to the days when everyone was limited to the same three channels from which to choose?
Today we can custom design our kids viewing and plan our lives around things we find important, not the television schedule. I remember vividly a moment, riding in the back window of the family car, when I imagined how cool it would be able to pause and record live TV. Now some thirty yeas later, we can and it should make our lives so much better. No longer do we need to plan our lives around things we want to see. Of course, in many ways it has made us even more slavish to entertainment. Sort of like the way all of our work saving devices have freed us up to work even more.
Then there is the value of having events and things that we do when they need to be done and not at our convenience. Just as watching Peanuts Specials when they came on as a kid was in some ways more special than popping in a DVD today, some things in life need to be done on schedule. Every day should be a day when we thank God for the things we have. Still, it is also appropriate to take this one day each year and set it completely aside as a day of thanksgiving. There is something special about doing out of the ordinary things, preparing for the day long in advance, and traveling to be with family and friends to celebrate.
Today we can custom design our kids viewing and plan our lives around things we find important, not the television schedule. I remember vividly a moment, riding in the back window of the family car, when I imagined how cool it would be able to pause and record live TV. Now some thirty yeas later, we can and it should make our lives so much better. No longer do we need to plan our lives around things we want to see. Of course, in many ways it has made us even more slavish to entertainment. Sort of like the way all of our work saving devices have freed us up to work even more.
Then there is the value of having events and things that we do when they need to be done and not at our convenience. Just as watching Peanuts Specials when they came on as a kid was in some ways more special than popping in a DVD today, some things in life need to be done on schedule. Every day should be a day when we thank God for the things we have. Still, it is also appropriate to take this one day each year and set it completely aside as a day of thanksgiving. There is something special about doing out of the ordinary things, preparing for the day long in advance, and traveling to be with family and friends to celebrate.
Comments
Post a Comment