I thought maybe I’d comment on this just because this is going to be a sensitive subject for many and it’s going to become even more sensitive as time goes on.
First. If you have a cell phone of any type. You are being tracked. It doesn’t matter if it’s a smart phone, it doesn’t matter if it’s the oldest cell phone ever made, if you have one and you use it, you are being tracked. It doesn’t matter if you turn it off after every use, the minute you turn it back on your location is triangulated by the cell towers and your location is being recorded.
Second. If you are on Facebook, even if you are using it only on your computer, you are being tracked. If you are using it on your phone, then every move you make is being tracked. If you log out and then login every time you use it, which would be a great practice to get into, it still has embedded cookies into your computer that track every website you go to.
Third. If you have an email address by any provider, you are being tracked. If that email address is connected to your phone and you receive email updates, you are being tracked.
Fourth. If you purchase anything online, look at any shopping website such as Amazon.com or Walmart.com, what you are looking at is being tracked and used to create predictive analysis of your behavioral patterns which are then used to market items to you that match your behavioral profile. This is happening right now and most people aren’t even aware of it.
Fifth. If you drive a car, no matter the age, no matter the model, no matter how fast or how slow you drive, you are being tracked. There are cameras everywhere documenting your every move. You are seen every time you go into a store, every purchase you make, every location you drive by.
All of this is happening with or without your permission and most likely without your knowledge.
So then… what should we do?
Should everyone create posts like the one you shared? It might provide some personal assurances, but in the grand scheme of things, your permission to record or not record your every move, doesn’t really matter. Whether you post this or not, you’re still going to be monitored and tracked and watched.
In reality, there’s really only two choices that you have if you wish to not be tracked and monitored.
The first choice is to abandon technology all together, slip out of your home in the middle of the night, walk to some hidden and unknown location, and spend the rest of your life hiding from people and living off whatever nuts, berries, and animals you can collect and trap with whatever tools and resources you brought with you. Even then, you’ll have to constantly be on the move and be vigilant in covering your tracks to ensure no one spots and reports you.
The second choice is to recognize that you have been given the opportunity to truly live your life above reproach. Everyone is watching, so what will you do? I hope the answer will be that you will be gracious and kind to everyone you encounter. That you will treat people with fairness and honest. That you will be kind and considerate to those less fortunate to you. And that you will be bold and ferocious in dealing with those who marginalize and take advantage of the least in our society.
Now… some might say that there’s a third choice to be made. A choice to live caught in the absurdity of fear and paranoia. A choice to live angry and frustrated and scared and offended. A choice to hate and blame one group of people while turning a blind eye to the imperfections and flaws of another group of people. But that is not a choice that I would believe adds any value to life, it simply bleeds life away worrying and fretting through whatever the angst and emotion of day brings. Who would want to live like that?
So, I contend there are two choices to be made and I sincerely believe that one of these choices will lead you to a heavenly reward, the other one most likely won’t.
And I hope, that someday far off into the future, when God calls you home, that He will say to you “Well done, you lived a life above reproach. You have been a good and faithful servant even when the world lost it’s mind and fear ran rampant through streets. You stood strong in faith and trusted me. Welcome home child!” I sincerely hope those are the words you hear.
God Bless, stay safe, love Jesus – and… maybe just turn off the TV and ignore the news for a few weeks/months/years because that form entertainment is rarely helpful and oftentimes destructive.
