Knights of Columbus

I've been a member of the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal order of Catholic men, for a little over four years now. In that time, I've made a lot of good friends and made connections with many of the families at our parish. Like most people, I struggle to live as I know I should and to be a good example to others, especially my kids. My membership in the KC's and being active in the parish has helped me by, quite frankly, surrounding myself with people who are far better Christians that I am who provide me with great examples of how to live. I know I'll never be the man I want to be, but I'm going to keep trying to get their until my last day on Earth.
Tonight, we had our regular monthly meeting and I did something new for the first time. We had an initiation for several new members. It is a ceremony who details are a secret of the order. The purpose of the secrecy is not to hide anything from the world, but because it is a beautiful ceremony and the new members are able to get the full impact of it by coming in without foreknowledge of the details. Maybe I'll figure out a better way to explain that some time.
Anyway, our council, 8960, has a team that performs this ceremony for the new members and I recently joined that team. Tonight was my first opportunity to do the part that I've been practicing for the last few months. It is an important section that I deliver and I'd been working on it hard because I believe these new men that we welcome in the KC's deserve my best. I was nervous, but my part went smoothly and I was pleased that the reaction was favorable from those who heard me.
I recently read a report that suggested that those who are teenagers now are becoming less connected as people because they spend so much of the communication time doing instant messages, blogging, myspacing, text messaging, etc. Not even so much as talking on the phone, which was what we did back in the day before all of these internet channels came to be.
As I've gotten older, I realize more and more that we really need to spend time in person with our fellow humans in order to really live. Whether it's working on a project with the KC's, taking my kids to play at the park, or going out on a date with my wife - these are the events that I'll remember and cherish as I look back on my life. The computers, technology, and internet are just tools and toys - they are not life and we have to be careful that they don't displace our lives and keep us from taking time to enjoy the real events, some of which we'll only get once chance at.
Well, that was all loosely connected. But, it's late and my mind is starting to wander, so I'd better wrap up for today.