“Cross Examining Progress”
By: Forrest Rivers
We think we move forward but we take two steps back when we stray further into the technological abyss. How many of us take the time to authentically interact? To introduce ourselves to a neighbor, lend a helping hand to a stranger? Facebook, smart phones and televisions are each distractions that prevent us from living in the present moment. Technology is a well of potential at our fingertips but it becomes our great oppressor when we fail to ground it with a spiritual foundation. Presently, it is in the service of all those values that we as a human family should deplore: fear, ignorance, greed, and separation. We secretly yearn for what is natural, but we deny ourselves these primal urges all in the empty pursuit of “progress”. Let us end this unhealthy obsession with life’s distractions. Strap on your boots and re-connect with Mother Nature. Return to that time when life was simple. Sing, dance, laugh, and play! Oh, how truly wonderful that day will be when we let our spirits free!