[Please accept my apologies for a few minor glitches in the audio file.]
There are two new phones in my world, each equipped to provide connections with the people I love. One is my fancy new smartphone; the other is a new-old-fashioned Tin Can. Which is better at connecting?
Note about image: Created using Microsoft Copilot. This image reflects a recent experience waiting to see my chiropractor. I think there should be a warning about cervical injury.
My Mysterious Mind
A few weeks ago, my elderly smartphone died and was replaced by the latest and greatest, an S26. In a tale of stark contrast, my life recently gained another phone, a Tin Can phone. This throwback to the days of landlines uses Wi-Fi to call other “Tin Can” phones. My oldest daughter had added one to her home and gave them also to me and to her sister. Now the three homes can connect via our retro phones.
This new way to connect to my daughters and their children has me wondering about connecting. Which is better, my S26 or my Tin Can?
My S26 can connect as a phone AND it can connect in many other ways. I can connect to the Internet, which is essentially a connection to pretty much everything digital. I could connect to my email, but I do not. It came with a connection to social media, i.e., Facebook, but I removed that app. If I don’t want to connect with a phone call, I can just connect via text messaging. My connections can include images, gifs, emojis, and video. I can connect to Uber through an app, thereby connecting to transportation provided by a network of available strangers.
Furthermore, I can connect to addictive games, but I refrain. My location can be connected to a network of satellites in space, aka, GPS. I can connect to an archive of photos via Google. My ever-listening phone is connected to AI, thus connecting me to unlimited merchandisers wishing to sell me something. And many more forms of connection I try not to ponder.
Then there’s my new Tin Can phone. It is connected by speed dial to my daughters’ Tin Can phones in Indiana and Oklahoma. Two places. I can also call 911 with it. Given these limited connections, you might be surprised to learn my Tin Can phone is my new favorite thing.
In one week, I have received five phone calls on my Tin Can phone, all from my grandchildren.
For them, the phone only calls one person, Grandma. And it’s simple enough, even a two-year old can pick it up and push the speed dial that connects to me.
Note about image: This is cartoon version of an actual photograph of my granddaughter calling me on a Tin Can phone.
Returning to my question, which is better at connecting, my S26 or my Tin Can phone? I guess it depends on whether you are measuring quantity or quality of connections. My S26 excels at its unlimited number of connections, including a contact list of several hundred phone numbers. My Tin Can phone only has two connections, but those two are of incredible worth to me.
There’s also a difference in the level of focus required for connection via each. My S26 has a myriad of distractions competing for attention every time I hold it. Plus, I can wander around with it, barely paying attention to the person to whom I am speaking. My Tin Can phone offers only one focal point, the voice of another person. And the twirly cord prevents the distraction of wandering. In a world where hands-free multitasking is revered, this might seem uncomfortably primitive.
I, however, find this countercultural form of connecting to be liberating.
Message of Mystery Acres
You won’t be able to call me on my Tin Can phone when I am in my beloved forest. Unless I bring my smartphone, I won’t be able to connect with you unless you are there with me.
I will be able to connect to nature. I don’t need a phone for that.
And, if I take a walk without my smartphone, I can connect to myself. Alone.
Most of us grew up being untethered to everything and everyone else in the pre-smartphone world. Have we forgotten how to be unconnected digitally?
There has been an epidemic of anxiety and depression since the intrusion of smartphones, especially among those too young to have lived before their takeover. One of the antidotes for these emotional problems is to go be in nature. Unconnected. Alone.
The message of Mystery Acres is a plea for disconnecting from the noise of the digital world and reconnecting with nature and with self. Losing ourselves in the forest without a smartphone might be the key to finding who we really are. Do we dare?
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
“Jesus, said, ‘When you pray, go into your room and close the door.’” (Matthew 6:6)
Prayer is the term for connecting with God. Jesus gave instructions for how to improve the quality of these connections. He described a private conversation, focused only on the Father, by directing the one praying to go into a room and shut the door. The resulting conversation would be just between the two persons, God and the person praying.
This approach would minimize external distractions. It brings to mind the story of Jesus visiting the sisters Mary and Martha (see Luke 10). Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to Him while Martha was distracted by preparations and frustrated by her sister’s lack of help. Mary was focused on a single connection; Martha was multitasking, able to hear Jesus’s voice among the noise of her activities.
Mary was using an ancient Tin Can phone; Martha was distracted by all the apps on her ancient smartphone. Which had the better connection?
Ancient Mystery’s Voice challenges us to consider the quality of our connections to the persons who matter to us. Are we able to focus, just listening to the one voice? Or are we distracted by various voices and trivial noise? A high-quality connection is one person focused on one person. This is a gold standard for conversations between people. It is also the means to deeper connectedness with God. Focused, simple connections.
Living in Mystery
What does it mean to live in the mystery of connecting, with a contrast between Tin Can and smartphone? It starts by taking inventory of your methods of connecting with the people you love. Do you use texting, phone calls, social media posts, or email? To what extent do your connections include in-person, or one-person-at-a-time methods?
Next, contemplate the quality of those connections. According to Gary Chapman, our relationships are built on five love languages, one of which is Quality Time, my personal favorite. If you are with me and checking your smartphone, that diminishes the quality time I am experiencing. In my head, your phone is more important than I am. If you are taking an important phone call, that’s fine. But if you feel compelled to check your phone for any other reason, I become unimportant to you in that moment. It’s heartbreaking experience of becoming invisible for me.
Quality Time isn’t the most valued “love language” for everyone, but it is for me. The others are Acts of Service, Gifts, Physical Touch, and Words of Affirmation. But this message isn’t about those. Quality Time means connecting without distraction. It’s the Tin Can version of interpersonal communication. It’s also the Mary version of listening, not the multitasking Martha method. Which version is typical of your connections with those you love? Which best describes your connections with God?
As an old mom to young parents, I encourage you to get your children a Tin Can phone. It also makes a great gift for other people’s children, such as grandchildren or nieces and nephews. For about a hundred dollars, this new “land-line” provides a way for children to call family members and friends without the clutter of smartphones. It’s free to use via Wi-Fi to call other Tin Can phones and only about $10 a month to call any phone. The phone is protected by an app that only allows approved numbers to connect to the Tin Can. For children old enough to be left alone at home, it also provides access to emergency services. It provides a means of connecting to people without the dangers of smartphones. Think about it. And, no, I don’t own stock or get a commission if you buy one.
If this message elicits an uncomfortable awareness of being overly connected to your smartphone, I dare you to practice spending time without it. Turn it off for a few hours. Take a walk outside without it. Sit on a park bench with another person without either of you having a smartphone nearby. Connect in a “tin can” way with someone. Just the two of you. Or just you and nature.
In our hyperconnected lives we are becoming increasingly disconnected with ourselves, with nature, and with each other. Filling our time with a myriad of random connections is emptying us deep inside. When the measure of connecting is quality, the tin can approach wins.
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, I confess to being easily distracted when I am talking with you or with the people I love. Help me to adopt a “tin can” mentality in my times with others and my times of prayer. Thank You for showing me how to be better connected with You; grant me the courage to live in deeper connection. Amen.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, try Bible Gateway. Ponder the story of Mary and Martha and how to decrease distractions during your conversations with God and those important to you.
Do you want more from my writing? Please visit my ARCHIVE (link and QR code provided).
You can also connect to Mystery’s Voice on Spotify (link provided).
Please pass on this message to friends and suggest they subscribe. It’s free!
Let me know what you’re thinking! You can email me at: Dear Dr. Mac or Join the Chat through the button below. I hope to hear from you!
