the i is for idolatry

ouch, it's been nearly 10 days since my last post. hope this doesn't put anyone off that might wish I posted more frequently.

Sarah & I have joined the revolution. I asked Santa Claus for an iPod for Christmas, but someone forgot to tell me that Santa isn't real so he didn't give me the latest gadget that all the kids are using. Ficticious benefactors aside, we did save up our Christmas money and bought one.

I've been wanting one for a long time... a long, long time... and probably not in a good, "I want this becuase it'll make life easier" sort of way. No, I really wanted one because I was jealous of all the folks walking around Seattle with the little white earbuds, jamming in their own little world, soundtrack to their fast-paced lives. And I wanted that. The ear buds. The personal soundtrack. The making other people jealous of my fashion... er, technological style.

And then, even worse, they came out with the U2 Special Edition iPod. Not only for the U2 fan in me, but also for the aesthetic "black is better than white" in me, and once again, the "make people jealous of me" in me.

Until someone jokingly (but I think rather seriously) posed the question to me, "Is the I in iPod for idolatry?" "For goodness sake no!" I replied quickly, recoiling to my hobbit hole with my dream... my precious.

But finally, I became more and more convicted of the throne that I was bowing to, that of Apple and Steve Jobs. I resigned myself to never want one again. This was then followed by the undelying desire to organize my music, which the iPod actually is helpful for. Sarah and I talked about it some more, and found that we both had uses for the iPod: she wanted one for working out (they're darn light and don't skip to the beat), and I could use one when I'm commuting this fall to seminary.

We ordered it at the end of last week, and even got it personalized for free. I signed for it this morning, and now I'm about to head home to get it set up and enjoy it on campus tomorrow!

So the moral of the story is don't get caught up in the advertising culture that we live in. It's pretty easy to come to think that you need more stuff to make you more satisfied with your life.