by T.J. Burdick | Oct 16, 2017 | Efficiency, Marriage and Family, Technology
If you are like most people, the first thing you do when you wake up is look at your screen.
After you take a shower, you check your email while you eat breakfast.
On you commute to work, you check your social media while stopped at a red light and you check again shortly after finding a place in the parking lot.
At work, at home, in the bathroom, while pumping gas, heck, even when your own kids are begging for you to read them a book, your life is surrounded by screens, screens, and more screens.
Your life is a liturgy.
Every act you commit, for better or for worse, belongs to God and I’d be willing to wager that much of what we do and say with our devices gives little to further God’s kingdom and much less to strengthen our souls and nourish our bodies. Repetitively, we follow the same rite of unlocked screens and eternal scrolls throughout our day and what do we gain from it? A few “likes” and a comment or two?
While technology has the potential to satisfy our curiosity and cure our boredom, it tends to distract us from achieving our ultimate goal- that of our salvation.
To change that, we need to add breadth and depth to our daily lives. We need to return to a daily liturgy that looks more like the “ancient” rite from 20 years ago. You know, the time before technology turned us into screen addicts.
Here’s how:
Pray
God tells us that the most important commandment is “to love God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat. 22: 37-38). Having a consistent prayer time a the beginning of the day connects our souls to God and unites our will with His. As prayer becomes a habit, you find yourself seeing the world through God’s eyes. When this happens, almost every act you commit becomes an intentional way of knowing loving, and serving God.
Exercise
St. Paul tells us, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor. 6: 19-20). I think we forget how beautiful our physical bodies are and can be. We tend to put physical exercise at the bottom of our priority list. We eat what we shouldn’t and our pulse remains stagnant in a world that needs our endurance to be sufficient “to fight the good fight, to win the race, to keep the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). A daily routine of physical exercise can take our bodies from lowly missionary chapels to breathtaking Cathedrals.
Read
Proverbs tells us that “though it cost you everything you have, get wisdom” (Prov 4:7). Erasmus echoes the sentiment when he wrote, “When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.” Technology has made it easier than ever to read books and listen to them via audio books. And yet, we tend to use our screens instead to play games and loose ourselves in feeds. Read more books and you’ll become more interesting of a person to talk to. Read more books and you’ll gain a better perspective on life, people, and God. Read more books and you’ll find yourself on your phone a lot less.
Pursue Your Passion
God has given you a mission to complete. He’s supplied you with the skills and time to do it. He’s also given you the desire to go through the long and tiring hours needed in order to accomplish it. What is it that drives you, that makes you unique from the rest of the world?
Are you a writer? Then write 500-1000 words a day with God as your inspiration.
Are you a runner? Then train for that 10K with God by your side.
Are you a wood carver? Then shape your slab into a beautiful work of art with Jesus (who knew a thing or two about carpentry) as your muse.
You were meant to create something good, true, and beautiful. Each day, do something to develop your talents, practice your craft, and produce fruit for the kingdom.
These are only 4 things that we should be doing every day to become holier in the a world where illuminated screens tend to overshadow our passions. But “in God’s light we see light itself” (Psalm 36:9), which means that wherever there are shiny devices and twiddly thumbs that stroke them, grace abounds all the more.
What else can we add to the list? What do you do every day that brings you closer to God (and further away from your screens)?
Let me know in the comments.
by T.J. Burdick | Oct 1, 2017 | Efficiency, Technology, Theology and Philosophy
Let’s face it, it is time to admit that we can no longer go without the Internet. We love our devices but, what are they doing to our souls?
In an effort grow closer to God…
- We tried digital detoxing.
- We tried going on social media fasts.
- We tried erasing the addictive games.
- We tried to maintain inbox zero.
- We even tried going to the store instead of buying everything on Amazon.com
And we failed.
With every unlocking of our home screen, we swipe and scroll without control and we wonder with a tinge of guilt what we can do to live a spiritually charged life with our devices, because we certainly cannot live without them anymore.
If that sounds like you, I’ve got great news in this post. Allow me to present the 5 ways that you can use your technology to grow in your relationship with God.
Pray
There are millions of apps that can help you pray more using your device. I use only one, the Divine Office App on the regular, usually twice a day. The reason I only use one app to help me pray is simple, prayer is a natural state of Christian living and apps are not natural. I like to have my mind free from screens when I pray and to do that, I make sure to limit my capabilities of praying using technology. When I am preoccupied with a reminder “ding” that tells me it is time to pray, I am more likely NOT to pray (or feel guilty for not having prayed during the “ding” moment). When I can’t keep up with reading the Bible throughout the year, I tend to not focus on the spiritual depth of actually reading the Bible, which is its intended purpose.
The Divine Office allows me to replace my Breviary, which is a rather thick book with many ribbons that requires multiple pages to turn for each prayer. With the app, I can pray with the Liturgy of the Hours more efficiently, which frees up more time to do other things to solidify my soul.
Study
Holy men and women would from the past have given their limbs to have the same access to historical and Biblical documents we have today. Right now, you can find almost every religious archive to ever be recorded and read it for free (and in their original languages if you are a polyglot). Think about the possibilities of developing your love for God if only you focused your energy toward studying his marvels. Whether you are attracted to the philosophical proofs of his existence, the theological cases for his love and mercy, or even the scientific facts that lead us to honor his creations, there are limitless possibilities to knowing, loving and serving God when it comes to internet usage.
Here are two ways to get started:
Many universities and colleges offer online courses both for credit and for fun. My two favorites are Holy Apostles College and Seminary, which offers the lowest cost for their entirely online Masters and undergraduate programs as well as some free online courses to get you started.
Also, I’m partial to my online learning platform, the Dominican Institute, which offers courses for all ages (and it is always adding more).
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Hack your Spiritual Education
Search for answers to your theological and philosophical questions by sifting through websites, participating in online forums, and watching orthodox videos on the faith. I’ve learned more on the internet from YouTube than any other source and guess what? It was completely FREE. Granted, I had to be careful about who I learned from (there are a lot of crazies out there), but it is easy to find the ones who speak the truth. More importantly, the internet provides you with a wide spectrum of doctrines of which you can compare one with the others to successfully analyze who speaks more truth. You are no longer limited to listening to just your pastor, you have the whole world to learn from.
Create
Technology offers us a myriad of ways to be creative. The artist can now make digital paintings using highly advanced tier apps. The film enthusiast can create movies and post them instantly on YouTube for their fans to view. The writer can draft, edit, review, and even publish their own book and put it into the market without having to spend months working with a publisher to get their work into the world. You a creative side because you are made in his image and likeness and thus, you too have the ability to create. Capitalize on that desire and make something good, beautiful and true. The world needs your creativity because without it, you cannot evangelize.
Connect
The word “community” has taken on a new definition over the past decade. It has gotten to the point that teenagers who own devices spend more time interacting with people via screens than they do in the flesh and adults aren’t too far behind. An Instagram “like” takes the place of a spoken compliment about how much we like our friend’s new haircut. A Facebook “thumbs up” removes the need to tell a colleague why you too think dessert should be eaten at every meal because why reserve it for just dinner?
Technology has a tremendous amount of potential when it comes to building communities and strengthening the souls of those who log on. It is important to note that nothing will ever be more valuable than the face-to-face interactions we have on a daily basis. There are huge benefits to physical proximity when it comes to the development of our minds, bodies, and hearts and if we commit ourselves to limiting our screen time to activities that enrich our community, we will have more time to take part in true, in-the-flesh interaction that our souls so direly need.
Here are a few suggestions when it comes to living out a Christian life while online:
- Post spiritual things on the internet, but mix them with other posts that are secular by nature, but still important to you. I post a lot about God, but I throw in a lot more about my family, Harry Potter, and the Detroit Pistons.
- Spend time analyzing your friends’ posts always looking for ways to enliven their spirituality.
- Send direct messages or emails over comments. They mean more and they don’t call attention to yourself, but they focus on the person you are connecting with. If you really want to go for a direct hit, send the person you are trying to communicate with a handwritten letter. THey’ll appreciate it more than you may ever know.
Retreat
Sometimes, we need to get away from our realities in order to examine our current state with more depth. So, we take a step back and perhaps a day off of our regular responsibilities to examine our conscious, figure out where we are in life, and where we want to be. This is called a “retreat” and it does wonders to our spiritual growth.
Many people retreat from their daily routines by pulling out their smartphones. However, I would argue that most of what we do on our phones during these times of “retreat” are not geared toward building up our spirituality. On the contrary, we distract ourselves from our responsibilities and ultimately, from God, because we are tempted to waste time instead of becoming more productive through our screen usage.
That’s why I would recommend taking a break from technology. To the extent that you are able (because I know we need to use it for work, school, etc) take a break from accessing your screen during a designated time each week. Replace the time you would typically be scrolling endlessly with something that will build up for faith, perhaps something from this list I’ve offered you in this blogpost.
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Technology has the capability of making our lives more efficient, more spiritual, more Christian. but we must be intentional about how we use it in order to make it work for our salvation and for those we serve.
There are countless other ways to live a good spiritual life in the digital age.
Comment below with the ways you use technology to grow in your faith.
