The Divinity Of Mobile Phones

On July 3rd 2015 I published an article on LinkedIn titled:

“Experiencing life without a mobile phone”

Today, on 25th January 2025, I am republishing the same article here on TOSCEO, but with some additional closing comments at the end.

Enjoy the story, and share it with whoever comes upon your heart.

Experiencing life without a mobile phone

It’s been almost one week since I last used my mobile phone. Without the full story, it involved kayaking in Vancouver, the event organiser steadfast in his warning of ‘I strongly suggest you don’t have anything on you that you don’t want to get wet’, my blasé attitude and the inevitability of my capsizing.

My mobile phone is usually with me every minute of the day. Mobile technology has made my world much smaller and has been an integral part of my business. Checking my emails on my phone has essentially become a muscle reflex, so without it the past six days have been quite fascinating and enlightening.

When the realisation that you are phoneless sets in and you are told the replacement is a week away, the feeling of dread and panic dominates your thoughts. How will I keep in contact with people? How can I keep track of my emails? How can I capture a moment or take a photo of something beautiful? How will I be able to see what is going in Twitter when I’m not in front of my laptop?

In the year 2015, these are big questions and big concerns. The world isn’t geared up for those without a mobile and for those who have grown dependent on mobile, life without one is daunting.

So what has my life been like these last 6 days? Here are some stories to explain

The flight

On my flight home from Vancouver, when the easy/standard option is to keep yourself to yourself, I struck up a conversation lasting the whole six hour flight with the lady that sat next to me. It was funny, enlightening and led to that realisation that we do live in ‘a small world’. The lady was visiting friends in England, including one from Bolton who owns the ‘Pound Chippy’, a thriving new venture that is expected to become pretty big in the UK. Being from Bolton, I couldn’t believe how you simply can’t script conversations like this.

When we touched down and I needed to call my wife to let her know that I was on schedule, my new Canadian friend was more than happy for me to use her mobile phone to make the call. If I had my phone, the likelihood would’ve been I wouldn’t have engaged in conversation with my neighbour. The Canadian lady on the other hand, was willing to interact rather than be plugged in to her phone.

The commute

Earlier this week, I arrived at the train station to commute home. Unfortunately, every train was delayed. To make matters worse, a train had broken down just outside the station which meant no trains were coming in or out for an unknown period. With plans in place for early that evening, I needed to make a call. Being phoneless, for the first time in nearly 15 years I used a payphone. The cost caught me off-guard to say the least. £7 later (for just a few minutes) I knew why the monthly mobile phone charge was a price worth paying.

Inevitably, I ran out of change. The convenience of the mobile seemed like a dream I had been rudely awakened from. Unable to inform anyone when I was getting home, when I did finally get on the train, I needed to make another call to let my friend know that our plans were still good for the evening. Again, I relied on the good will of a fellow traveller. Sheepishly, I asked the lady to my right ‘Sorry it’s a bit of a strange request, but could I possibly borrow your phone to make a quick call as I currently don’t have one?’, to which the lady replied ‘Of course, although it’s only a very basic one, I hope it’s alright for you.’ She pulled out of her bag one of the classic early 2000s Nokia models. I asked her could she unlock it before realising that there was no such feature on this retro mobile.

The morning routine

My typical routine in a morning is quite quick. Within thirty minutes of waking up I’m in the car driving to the train station. I use the Spotify app on my mobile to provide the soundtrack to my morning  commute. This particular phoneless morning was much different.

Allow me to paint a picture for you. Waking up to a glorious summer morning, a low mist hovered over the farmers’ fields surrounding my family’s house and the birds were tweeting merrily. This morning I made the decision to dispel my usual thirty minute routine. I “woke up” and decided to appreciate the world around me. I went for a morning stroll down our country lane and breathed in the clear country air. I have to admit, I really did miss my mobile phone on this particular morning. Not for the music or social media but for the camera. I wanted to capture my morning and share it with my family but then again, if I did have my phone, I wouldn’t have appreciated my morning stroll as I did because it would’ve been through a lens.

The coffee shop

An hour or so later that same morning, when purchasing a coffee from the Gourmet Coffee Bar & Kitchen at the train station, the young barrister asked a simple, open question as he was working his magic. Typically I would have my mobile out, checking emails and browsing through my twitter notifications, but without it, I was far more focused on answering the barista’s (Tony) question. Doing so led to a conversation that made both our morning’s that little bit better, a conversation that wouldn’t have occurred if I had a mobile.

So what are my lessons learnt in terms of life experiences without a mobile phone?

A term in life often used is that people need to ‘wake up’ and appreciate the world around them and the people that they come in to contact with.

By removing the distraction and infatuation of having a smartphone always with you, reflecting back on this last six days, I would encourage more people to put down their phone and see what is around them.

Not everything has to be experienced or shared through social media and some of the most interesting parts of the day come through interaction with another person.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the nearest ‘Pound Chippy’ for my lunch.

Closing Comments For 2025 & Beyond

Like with many things in life, the mobile phone can be used for good or for bad. To put it another way, the mobile phone can be used for pure purposes or to unclean purposes.

To give greater context and understanding, the mobile phone can be used for holy, righteous reasons, or it can be used for sinful, unrighteous reasons. Without me having to mention it, you know are aware of what is one the biggest sinful reasons mobile phones can be used by men and women across the earth.

Each time you reach for your mobile phone, ask yourself “What is God’s will for me having this phone? Am I looking at my phone for genuine, holy reasons or more simply because I am actually addicted to looking at it?”

When you are browsing through social media content on your mobile phone, ask yourself “Is what I am looking at and scrolling through nourishing my spirit, or is it actually quite pointless and meaningless?”

Look at your phone and ask God “God, have I made an idol out of my phone?”

Is Jesus Your Lord & Saviour?

If you haven’t already, it is now time for you to be born-again by receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour!

Head over to the Become Born-Again website to read God’s purpose for your life.