Get ready for some math… How much television/ web videos do you watch on a given day? Maybe it is just two hours a day (the national average is something like 5 hours). Multiply that by by 7 days a week and you’ve got a solid 14 hours in one week that you can never get back. Considering that you may sleep 8 hours per night, that means that you spend almost one entire waking day per week watching television.
Recently, Nick and Chris fasted from television and visual media for an entire month. That’s right! A whole month without watching movies or taking in Internet videos. They embarked on this process shortly after realizing that they were trying to fill their loneliness of having moved across the country with entertainment. So, they guys set out to give it up — with the exception of the video they had to watch at work.
“The hardest part was probably walking into restaurants and finding a seat that did not face a television,” said Chris. “I found myself having an almost physical need to look at the screen. Even before the fast I was beginning to notice that my eyes were constantly drawn away from the people I was with and towards the box.”
“When you stop and think that something like nine hours of a person’s life can be spent in front of the television screen, it’s hard to believe that a person’s worldview will not be impacted. I’ve found myself watching television and movies that I know God would not want me to be taking in. So, the time came to just cut it off. Now that we’re allowed to watch TV again, though, I’ve found it less appetizing. We’re both doing more reading and have spent more time catching up with friends over the phone and in person. When we were in college we kept our television unplugged and in the closet so that it would be a hassle to watch it. It gave us a lot more time to make friends, go for walks, and enjoy real life.”
It may seem strange to challenge an audience on a media website to turn off their televisions, but we want to encourage you to strive for purity. If that means taking time off, then go for it! Now is a good time. If nothing else, you can start now and celebrate the end of your fast with Bringing up Bobby when it is re-released on DVD on 10.5.10!
You may even want to consider turning off your radio when you are driving or going for a workout. That extra bit of silence can allow you to slow your life down, focus on the other people in the car, and give you more time with the Lord. Perhaps you can challenge your church congregation to fast from media during the service! Let us know how you did by posting your experiences in the comment section!
Tips on Fasting From Television and Media:
* Make plans with friends and family members to help distract you.
* Take some extra time to read the Bible for yourself.
* Start writing to people you have not spoken with in a while.
* Get some exercise! Take up walking or jogging.
* Meet people! Check out your local newspaper to find some cheap events or groups that you can attend.
* Use your newfound time to share the gospel with neighbors.
* Read important books.
* Pray for people in power.
The Glowing Nose Podcast is the official podcast of Glowing Nose LLC, makers of the movies “Bringing up Bobby”, “Between the Walls”, and “Pint Size Parables”. Help us out by visiting the store page and picking up a few items. It would also help us if you would write a movie review of Bringing up Bobby and tell people that you like our podcast!
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This entry was posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 1:00 am and is filed under Podcast, Special Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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This was great! Considering the cumulative amount of time spent consuming media really confirms the idea of not wanting to have a television at all – or at least not having one as an integral part of my life. That’s right, lock it in the closet, throw it out the window, whatever it takes to stop being passive and start living out there in the real world!