Last week two different blogs posted on the dangers of becoming overly dependent on and attached to our technology (this whole thing is a little ironic since I am using my computer to post on a blog). These amazingly helpful tools often become so needed and so constant in our lives that our attention to things that really matter. We can easily become slaves to these things missing out on much of the good life God has given us to enjoy. Here are some highlights.

Mark Driscoll in a post entitled Cell Sin:

…Unplugging my technology and simply having nothing on my body that required a battery seemed like a new kind of spiritual discipline for our age that refreshed and renewed me more than I could have imagined.

Being unplugged from my technology also made me more aware of how much lords over us as a beeping, ringing, and vibrating merciless sovereign god. I was grieved when I went to the pool every day with my kids to swim and play catch in the water and looked around the pool only to see other parents not connecting with their children at all but rather talking on their cell phones and dinking around on their handheld mobile devices while sitting in lounge chairs. When we went out for meals we saw the same thing. Parents with children were commonly interrupted throughout the meal by their technology and spent more time talking on the phone than to their family.

…I know in years past I too have been guilty of these same digital sins against God, my family, and my own well-being. Now that I see it as a sin that destroys silence, solitude, fellowship, prayerful listening, and meaningfully and attentive friendship, I am deeply convicted that there is a new spiritual discipline of fasting from technology to be mastered. In this way, we can enjoy the life and people that God puts in front of us rather than ignoring them while we peck away with our thumbs and chat about nothing, which in the end is rarely as important as the people we are ignoring all around us.

Justin Buzzard posted on Technology and Bringing Your 5 Senses Back to Life:

During my vacation this last summer I made one of the better decisions of my life: I didn’t bring my laptop or cell phone with me. For ten days I didn’t look at a computer screen, read an email, answer a ringing phone, or surf the internet. I loved those ten technology free days. My 5 senses came alive again as I looked at the ocean, felt cool breezes, tasted fresh food, listened to my son’s baby talk, and smelled freshly cut grass.

Ever since those ten days I’ve been trying to be much more discerning in my use of technology. I’ve been thinking a lot about the interaction between our 5 senses and our technology-driven culture, wondering if if we’re engaging our 5 senses as God would want them to be engaged.

It would seem to me that many of us spend eight or so hours of our day limiting our 5 senses to interact with a 15 inch computer screen, rather than seeing, touching, tasting, hearing, and smelling the full scope of God’s creation.

Buzzard goes on to list five questions he is seeking to ask himself:

Sense of Sight: Are you glorifying God with your sense of sight?
How many hours a day are your eyes looking at a computer screen? God made our eyes to observe the sky above, the trees outside, the sunset from last night, the faces of the people we live and work with, etc. What’s one practical step that you could take this week to look at your computer screen less and look at everything else more?

Sense of Touch: Are you glorifying God with your sense of touch?
How many hours a day are you touching your keypad and mouse? God made our bodies to touch more than plastic–to appropriately touch other people, feel the warmth of a fire, feel the startling shock of a cold shower, etc. What’s one practical step that you could take this week to touch and feel your laptop less and touch and feel non-plastic items more?

Sense of Taste: Are you glorifying God with your sense of taste?
How often do you eat rather than dine, stuff rather than taste, multi-task rather than single-task your meals? God gave us a sense of taste so that we might savor and enjoy the process of eating. What’s one practical step that you could take this week to truly taste your food and enjoy your meal, rather than racing through your meal while you answer emails?

Sense of Hearing: Are you glorifying God with your sense of hearing?
How often do you listen to voices over a cell phone or read voices over email? God gave us ears so that we could enjoy conversations with friends, exchanges with strangers, and the sounds of breaking branches and singing birds. What’s one practical step that you could take this week to listen to people through devices less and listen to people in person more?

Sense of Smell: Are you glorifying God with your sense of smell?
How often do you smell out of a box, smelling only the scents in your office, home, and car? God gave us our sense of smell so that we might enjoy a rich variety of scents, like the smell of early morning, the smell of a garden, and the smell of a wildflower. What’s one practical step that you could take this week to smell out of a box less and smell outside more?

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