2006-04-27T00:26:41Ztag:sursumcorda.salemsattic.com,2018:/isso/thread/post/tv-turnoff_week_april_24-30tag:sursumcorda.salemsattic.com,2018:/isso/91/3252006-04-27T00:26:41ZMark<p>Ah...you all need to cut loose and watch American Idol.</p> <p>Just kidding, just kidding.</p>tag:sursumcorda.salemsattic.com,2018:/isso/91/3242006-04-25T16:51:45ZSursumCorda<p>I know, I do get frustrated by all the advice that tells me how much more time I'd have if only I'd give up TV, and how much more money I'd have if only I'd stop smoking. I guess we should be accomplishing a lot more than most folks, and have more money, too, eh?</p>tag:sursumcorda.salemsattic.com,2018:/isso/91/3232006-04-25T04:45:47ZHarp<p>How exciting! I wish I could cut back from my zero hours of TV so I can do some of the things on your list! Actually, I have learned to juggle a little in the last month. It's so cool once you get past the first few weeks of being an absolute mess. . .<br> I like your analogy of taking off our chains. I don't watch TV, but I'm a slave to other things (like eating!). I'm reading Colossians Remixed and he talks a lot about the power of the Empire (in Paul's case that of the Roman empire and in our time that of a consumerist empire) over our lives when Christ should be the only one we serve. In the book they (a homeschool family) make the point that the power of an Empire is to capture the imagination so that the subjects cannot imagine a different or better existence. There are interesting parallels with TV, but that's just one medium for the Empire that is pervasive in our world. It is Christ that sets our imaginations free to live with the knowledge of heavenly things. That doesn't mean I we have our head in the clouds, but focusing on 'things above' frees us to do wondrous things in the world below! They put it much better than I do, though of course I don't agree with everything they say.</p>