He seems to love Wii more than me.
And he is six, and who knew this rampant need to play video games was buried inside his fingertips and probably stretches deep: up his limbs to his firm, round shoulders?
I’ve lamented this fact since the Wii arrived for Christmas, and I have people try to console me with the notion that he’s being “active,” but I just wish he was in the backyard gulping fresh air and using his thick legs in long strides. Playing real sports. Running real laps. Using real rackets.
Our only defense and power over Satan are these luscious, strong bodies. And I wonder, in this virtual age, if we sacrifice the pleasure of doing something physically because it’s so much easier to do it virtually via avatar or mii.
Has pornography replaced sex? Would people rather engage in a false identity perversion than work on marriage with an emotional/sexually unexciting/perhaps difficult or unattractive (read: very human) spouse? Has creating an ideal online persona via sprightly blog and Facebook account become more important than working on a real, live person forging their way through experience? Would my kids rather play with a Wii than a live he or she? Has a simulated universe replaced our own yucky, messy one? And do we prefer that?
And I’m not talking generally of course, I think a healthy online persona is easily grasped for most people—I’m talking about the margins. Those I know who have fallen into these virtual worlds. It scares me for myself, my children. Sometimes it’s not a moral choice, I just feel the easy pull of melting into the mindlessness of Stumble Upon or babysitter Wii.
But: when Satan says he will take up those who follow him and posses their bodies, is this what he means? That we’ll give up our physical lives for fake ones?
That’s the complicated question. These easy ones are these:
How do you limit screen time in your home—for yourself and others?
How do you keep a real, balanced, healthy online persona?
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