My iPhone Ran Away...

Yesterday, in the hustle and bustle of finishing my legal research final thirty minutes before it was due, I somehow misplaced my iPhone in the time it takes to print off my paper and turn it in. I was about halfway through my torts class when I realized it wasn’t with me. After torts, I hit up every lost and found in the law school and was eventually able to call myself. I took it as a bad sign that my fully charged phone had been turned off, as it is unlikely that I will be able to get a hold of the new “owner.” I then rushed over to AT&T where I waited an hour to suspend my line, and then made it back to the law school with enough time to once again scour the lost and found boxes before my last class of the day.

Needless to say, it was one of those days…

Pastor Rob’s sermon on Sunday was about the blessings of generous giving and that the best way to cure yourself of materialism is to give everything away; he asked us if we were really spending our money in a way that reflects what we value. Now while I ordinarily wouldn’t call myself overly materialistic, I can see the irony in the whole thing. Granted, had I been a little more proactive and diligent in doing my paper ahead of time, I probably never would have been in this little pickle. I wouldn’t have forgotten my phone had I not been worrying about finishing my paper and turning it in on time. And losing that expensive little thing has shown me just how much I depended on it. I mean, seriously, I have felt disconnected from the rest of the world simply because I don’t have it at my fingertips. I even think I had the thought that I would have rather not finished my paper than lose my phone.

This morning, still phoneless and surfing World Magazine in class, I read: “our darkened hearts are capable of bottomless hunger. If someone places something attractive before us, even though we were content before, the very existence of it will open up a hole, a want, a craving. And the worst thing we can do is give in to the craving, because we’ll only train ourselves to want more and more…I’m starting to see the value of denying our wants. I’m not talking about moderation, about denying ourselves things we don’t really need, whatever that means. I’m talking about denying ourselves things we might actually have a good use for, solely for the sake of keeping our flesh in check.”

So while losing my phone has been VERY inconvenient and somewhat painful to swallow, I think it’s time for this lesson. Maybe it’s time to go back to the old school Nokia?

And to the new “owner” of my phone: check out the Texas Penal Code, section 31.03.