Intractable

   in . trac – ta . ble /adjective/ unmanageable, uncontrollable, troublesome, demanding

Of the many synonyms for the word intractable, the one that seems  applicable to perhaps the most popular technological device today, the cellphone,  is uncontrollable. Ask anyone with a smartphone whether he or she  can simply ignore it for even an hour, and you’re likely to get a No for an answer. It is the most ubiquitous of our modern gadgets and is as demanding as a newborn baby. In its brief existence among us, it has become an appendage as vital as a hand.

Cellphones are creating a stir everywhere. Educators at all levels consider them a major problem. Teachers in  elementary schools  are faced with finding ways to  regulate their use  in the classroom. Parents are seen as a part of the problem, but they often say that they give cellphones to their children as a security measure. As a principal, I tried to outlaw cellphones because they proved disruptive, not only in the classroom but elsewhere on campus, many times giving rise to confrontations. One writer refers to cellphones in schools as “a vexing problem,” and Kevin Hart, in an article for the NEA (National Education Association) journal, poses the question: “Are Cellphones the New Chewing Gum?”

The problem goes beyond the elementary and secondary levels. Cellphone use in the college  classroom  is forbidden by administrators, but instructors still tangle with students who just don’t seem to be able to put them away. I have  found in my classroom that even the most respectful students sometimes yield to the irresistible urge to whip out their phones during class. My somewhat humorous digs about their dependence on the “umbilical cord” doesn’t help. They hide their hands in their lap or under the desk and play with the thing.

No doubt about it. The intractable cellphone problem exists in the classroom and, assuredly, in the workplace as well. But should the problem exist  in church? There are those parishioners who find their phone so controlling that they cannot leave it alone during a worship service. I am not saying this is a pet peeve of mine, but I think  cellphone use in a religious service is distracting, if not sacrilegious.  I  observed one individual (just a little journalistic observation here)  whose eyes were glued to his cellphone while the speaker up front was doing his best to send the light out among the faithful. Even if the individual had the entire NIV on his smartphone, it would still be expected that at some point he would look up at the speaker. But his fingers kept going faster than he could listen. This is not an isolated instance. Others display the same uncontrollable behavior during a service.

I don’t know of any theology that governs cellphone use during a worship service, but there certainly is something of an etiquette breach to have a minister speak to the top of a parishioner’s head while that person’s eyes are focused on a screen, his fingers smearing across the screen or tap-tapping on it at a fast clip. Some techies in the pew are aware of what the rules require, so they don’t concentrate on the screen for long periods. But the feeling to check their phone is so overpowering that every so  often they slide it out of their pocket or purse, take a quick peek at it, press a button, and shove it back where it belongs.

I write Christian fiction, but what I have written here is no fiction.  In church some attendees  concentrate on their cellphones instead of on the sermon, and I’m sure the problem won’t go away, at least not anytime soon. Those of us who are eyewitnesses to the intractable hold cellphones have  on our fellow worshipers will  simply have to adjust and hope that in time, they’ll learn to  manage their cellphone use by  following  the Apostle Paul’s guidance: “. . .  the fruit of the Spirit is . . . self-control.”

Blessings,

Judith

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“Be nice. The world is a small town.”  Austin Kleon