Who Is Listening?

A few months ago I had breakfast with a dear friend from high school.
We talked about anything and everything that morning.
We caught up on our lives.
It was such a refreshing morning.

During our conversation, we somehow began talking about technology.
She told me a story.
My friend works at a hospital.
She was remembering something that happened at lunch one day.

Some of the women were talking about shoes.
No one had their computers.
No one had their phones in their hands.
It was a simple conversation about fashion.

Later that evening, the women who had been talking together got ads for that particular shoe.
None of the women searched for the shoe on the internet.
They were only talking at the lunch table.
They did have their phones nearby.

All the women were shocked.
They all realized that each of them received the ads.
The only common link that day was that their phones were nearby.
I listened in disbelief.

My husband received an Echo as a gift.
I had no desire to have one in our house.
I was indifferent to it.
It sits in our kitchen, on top of one of our Sonos speakers.

Often, Alexa will speak up and ask us a question based on something she heard.
I cannot stand personifying an inanimate object.
It bothers me that this circular speaker has a name and gender.
If it randomly asks us a question, then it is constantly listening.

My son-in-love does not want one in his house.
He does not want a device listening in all the time.
I respect him for that.
So does my daughter, his wife.

However, I do not think a small Echo is all he or anyone else has to worry about.
What happened to my friend and her coworkers happened to me.
I could not believe it.
I knew exactly what happened; I was trying to figure out why or even how it happened.

My friend sent me a text.
She wanted to talk about something.
I grabbed my phone and went out on the porch.
I sat on the porch swing.

We talked for a few minutes and then I saw her.
Are you walking your dog? I asked her.
I am; how do you know that? She wondered.
Because I’m on the porch and I see you; Come sit on the porch with me.

She turned around and came on the porch.
We had our conversation there.
In the course of our conversation, she told me her husband was considering an e-bike.
What is an e-bike? I asked her, having absolutely no idea.

Se explained an e-bike to me.
We then talked about other things.
My phone, which I had been using before I saw her, was on the wicker table in front of me.
Her phone was in her pocket.

The next day, I kept getting ads on my Facebook page for e-bikes.
I have never searched for an e-bike.
I never even knew they existed.
The only time an e-bike was ever discussed was when my friend was on my porch.

Was it my phone?
Even though the screen of my phone was black, was my phone still listening?
Was I targeted for e-bike ads simply because we talked about them?
Like my friend at lunch with her co-workers, the phone was the only logical explanation.

I researched this on my own.
Many articles state that our phones are listening.
Companies like Google and Facebook deny that this kind of thing happens.
What is the truth?

So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:26-31)

If my devices are listening, maybe I should give them something of value to hear.
Maybe my devices should hear about the Lord Jesus.
Maybe I should share the Gospel with whoever may be listening in.
Maybe I should sing worship songs so someone’s day or perhaps life could be changed.

People are within earshot.
What are we saying of any importance?
What are we saying that is worth hearing?
If I am being listened to, I want to make my words count.

Just a thought.