Je ne suis pas un espion

Don't worry, the rest of the post is in English!

Last night, I took a look at my Google Reader subscriptions. They were quite numerous. Google Reader is a program that allows the user to gather RSS feeds in one place to read them. Blogs, news services, and other websites that generate different content on a regular basis often use RSS feeds to distribute the content. It's also convenient for readers. You click 'subscribe' and you get a reader inbox full of new stuff. It beats checking all those websites every day.

Except I had nearly 100 subscriptions. Never mind how many actual posts were there, I had nearly 100 subscriptions. Add to this checking a couple of news sites every day for local and non-local news and there was just a huge flow of information. Then there's checking links that get posted on Facebook, Twitter, or emailed to me, and I have been living in the full-out information age.

This morning, though, it hit me. And it hit me in French, which is pretty rare these days. Je ne suis pas un espion. I don't know if it was coming back from a movie or a book. The words mean, as I recall and Google Translate verifies, "I am not a spy."

I know this reassures those of you who had your doubts. Now, let me make the first point:

While we live in the "information age" guess what? I did not need all that I was trying to process. I do enjoy reading blogs, news, and all the other stuff that trickles through. I just don't need it. Honestly, how many different controversies do you have to be aware of?

So, I trimmed it out. I eliminated 75% of the blogs I follow. I'm in the process of trimming my twitter follows (if I can sort out their new layout) and creating a list that keeps me from getting distracted by it.

What does this have to do with spying?

Well, spies are out there to gather information. Without information, trouble befalls them.

Yet I can live without it. Not all information, certainly. I am not advocating Fortress Doug not be troubled by things like "ideas" or "facts." Just that I can live without a lot of what I've spent my time on. There are things to concentrate effort on.

Even if I get blindsided because I did not see coming that some other preacher some other place did some thing or said some thing that was wrong. I may not be prepared for bumping into him in a Wal-mart in Wisconsin, but the odds are pretty rare that it will matter.

Basically, this whole rant is to point this out: be careful with information overload. More sometimes is not better. Sometimes it's just more. Really.

So, cut a few things out. Delete a few podcast subscriptions, cut your Netflix by one DVD a month (or ditch it entirely and go AMAZON PRIME)!

Less time worrying over things that you cannot affect and more time building the relationships you need to survive. That's a better thing.

Even if you are a spy. But I'm not one.

Probably.