In the 1970s, I worked at a church camp called Bogg Springs. It was a medium-sized campground in a beautiful valley nestled in the Ouachita Mountains in southwest Arkansas. As far as formative experiences are concerned, The Bogg has probably influenced my siblings and I as much as any other place on earth.
For the first two years of my tenure there, the boys' staff house was a rustic cabin across the road from the camp entrance. The cabin featured open windows, by which I mean open windows -- no glass, no screens. Thus, we lived with bugs, rats, bats, and snakes, plus the occasional raccoon that wandered by on its way to the garbage dump just south of the campground. We were "camping," and we loved it.
Another unique feature of the cabin was a 20-gallon electric water heater, which, for some reason or other, was not grounded correctly, and which had to be turned off before the shower could be used. Otherwise, the unfortunate soul who touched the hot water handle would receive a 110-volt reminder to throw the switch.
One evening after supper, a fellow worker named Paul Bazar entered the cabin with the intention of taking a shower, when he encountered another fellow worker -- who shall remain nameless -- seated on a bed. The other guy was buck naked, ashen-faced and was trembling uncontrollably. Paul thought he might be close to death.
"What's wrong?" Paul asked.
"F-F-Forgot to t-t-turn off the j-j-juice," was the reply.
The other guy lived.
• • •
Here lately I have found myself "plugged in" to a lot of things: Social media, internet websites, television and newspapers, among other things. All of these things have undeniable benefits. (I use Facebook to stay in contact with friends I haven't seen in decades.) The problem is that all of these things also have great potential for psychological, emotional, theological or philosophical carnage, especially for people who are "ungrounded" in what they believe and why they believe it.
Let's consider unplugging ourselves from things which are harmful to us and plugging in to more important things, family, friends, community and church among them. Those are more important things and should warrant our focus and attention more than social media or internet browsing.
And, most importantly, let's plug in to the only One who can give real meaning and purpose to life, Our Creator. It is only through Him that we can lead lives of calm assurance in a culture that seems to worship perversion, distortion and conflict. But we cannot find peace in today's world. Peace can only truly be found in a relationship with God.
-- Doug Chastain is a retired teacher and is currently a large-vehicle transportation specialist for the Siloam Springs School District. (Okay, he drives a bus.) He is also a grass maintenance technician at Camp Siloam. (Yeah, he mows the lawn.) You can contact him at [email protected] . The opinions expressed are those of the author.