Anything that results in all input and no thought, be it radio, computer, romance novels, Facebook, or whatever, can be mind-numbing. TV may be more seductive than most, involving less effort and more seduction.  It has been seriously suggested that the best way to conquer a nation from the inside would be to have a TV in every room and gradually lower the moral caliber of what it offers. Clearly TV has been pushing the envelope with ever-increasing obscenity, violence, and immorality. A constant diet of junk food is not good for us, whether it be on the tube or on the table.

Perhaps you can tell.  I am going through TV withdrawal and it has come to this!  I am thinking, and analyzing, and writing about my experience.  i am getting in touch more often with friends and relatives. The books I read certainly have more substance than the average TV program.  I am cleaning out the nooks and crannies of my house and of my mind.  (Strange stuff in there!)

I came across a quote from Abraham Joshua Heschel:  “The Sabbath as a day of rest, as a day of abstaining from toil, is not for the purpose of recovering one’s strength and becoming fit for the forthcoming labor.  The Sabbath is a day for the sake of life.”

Whatever you want to call it – Sabbath, Lent, retreat – consider some tome out for the sake of life.  As Aristotle said, “Man, by nature, desires to know.”  But we can’t know everything and needn’t know most things.  If we first know ourselves, we can better make our life choices.  Turn off the TV awhile.  Put away the smart phone.  See how funny it feels.  See how addicted you were.  And see what you’ve been MISSING!