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Cell phones, man’s (woman’s) best friend
pastor corner

Pastor Jim Jackson

Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church

Remember when dogs were called man’s best friend? Is that still so? Perhaps it’s no longer true just think of all the things a dog can’t do. I’m thinking they may have some competition these days with cell phones.

 Cellphones can be tucked in your pocket, dogs have to be leased. Cell Phones don’t have to be fed. They don’t need grooming or taken to the vet. Cell Phones don’t need to go outside in the rain or at night to go potty. Cell phones don’t leave hair on your couch. Cell Phones don’t bark or bite. Cellphones can tell lots of things a dog can’t: tell time, give directions, or even spell those difficult words. Cell Phones can even be flashlights Cellphones can do math better and quicker than a professor of mathematics at M. I. T. Cellphones can play more games than the smartest Border collie.

Ever hear of a cell phone having fleas? Naw. Kids can’t take Ole Rover to school or inside McDonalds for a kid’s meal. Need I go further? But wait. No cellphone has sat beside a weeping boy or girl on the back porch steps after having been disciplined by parents. Those wet kisses bring comfort cellphones know nothing about. No cellphone has brought a warm presence to the bedside of a dying owner. No cellphone has brought his hunting owner a game bird from a freezing autumn pond.

No cellphone is capable of catching the scent of a criminal and helping bring him to justice. No cellphone has pulled a drowning child from a swimming pool. No dog has so obsessed its owner that he couldn’t enjoy a meal with siblings’, parents or friends in a restaurant. No cellphone can congratulate a winner in a little league ballgame. Need I go further?

But I’m not finished; I propose that a better friend than either a cellphone or a dog is a steadfast human friend. Such a friend comes in when others leave. Such a friend loves even when there are profound differences. The human friend forgives injuries, lends strength to the weak and doesn’t hold grudges or make room for jealousy. A true friend never temps you with cellphone pornography.

Or as one poet put it, such a friend helps “build a heaven in hell’s despair.” But I’m still not finished.

There once lived on this earth man’s best friend for sure.

On one occasion, he spoke these words to his followers: “I no longer call you servants but friends.” The book of Proverbs says “there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” Your cell phone will need charging and eventually die. Your dog and even your best human friends will die. But not so with Jesus.

He promised: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” That song we sang as children nailed it: “My best friend is Jesus.”

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