A Little Less Tech

I do not advocate getting rid of all technology/machines, but those who are less reliant on them do seem to have more joy in their lives, as illustrated in the poem below about tending sheep by Rev William Barnes.  This is more than likely because machines direct our attention no higher than the men who make them and the matter they are made of, while care of animals or farming of any kind tends to direct our attention toward the Creator Who has made and sustains all the living things that are in the world - and Who is also the source of true happiness.

'THE SHEPHERD O' THE FARM'

Oh! I be shepherd o' the farm,

Wi' tinklèn bells an' sheep−dog's bark,

An' wi' my crook a−thirt my eärm,

Here I do rove below the lark.

An' I do bide all day among

The bleäten sheep, an' pitch their vwold;

An' when the evenèn sheädes be long,

Do zee em all a−penn'd an' twold.

An' I do zee the friskèn lam's,

Wi' swingèn taïls an' woolly lags,

A−playèn roun' their veedèn dams

An' pullèn o' their milky bags.

An' I bezide a hawthorn tree,

Do' zit upon the zunny down,

While sheädes o' zummer clouds do vlee

Wi' silent flight along the groun'.

An' there, among the many cries

O' sheep an' lambs, my dog do pass

A zultry hour, wi' blinkèn eyes,

An' nose a−stratch'd upon the grass;

But, in a twinklèn, at my word,

He's all awake, an' up, an' gone

Out roun' the sheep lik' any bird,

To do what he's a−zent upon.

An' I do goo to washèn pool,

A−sousèn over head an' ears,

The shaggy sheep, to cleän their wool

An' meäke em ready vor the sheärs.

An' when the shearèn time do come,

Then we do work vrom dawn till dark;

Where zome do shear the sheep, and zome

Do mark their zides wi' meästers mark.

An' when the shearèn's all a−done,

Then we do eat, an' drink, an' zing,

In meäster's kitchen till the tun

Wi' merry sounds do sheäke an' ring.

Oh! I be shepherd o' the farm,

Wi' tinklèn bells an' sheep dog's bark,

An' wi' my crook a−thirt my eärm,

Here I do rove below the lark.