« End of Summer: A Brief Backward Glance | Treasure Hunt »

Undone by Technicalities?

A recent newspaper article speaks of “the singularity,” a term popularized by science fiction writer and real-life scientist Vernor Vinge to describe the moment when humans create machines smarter than we are and thus engineer our own demise - or at least subservience. Some scientists take this notion quite seriously, positing rogue warriors and self-replicating robots. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html)

And I can’t even program my cell phone. I’ll go down in the first wave. The writer asks what it would be like “to relate to a machine that is as intelligent as your spouse?” A step down from handling the microwave, my wife would probably reply.

Still, the whole thing gets me to wondering about the current state of technology as it relates to our spiritual life. When I was a kid, one guy in our (very large) church had a phone in his car. The phone was a boat-anchor and the car was a Caddy, facts which frame two conditions of such devices back in those days: the machinery was clunky and the machinery was for rich people. Now, for a fraction of what that device ran, the lower-middle classes can purchase prepaid cell phones that also take pictures and send text messages. Democracy in action? Perhaps.

But writer Bruce Sterling flung out an observation at the South by Southwest tech conference in Austin last spring that deserves consideration: “Poor folk,” he quipped, “love their cell phones.” Behind that provocative dicho lurks the notion that if you’re rich enough you can shut down the Blackberry if you feel like it. The rest of us, fighting to hang onto the jobs we have and perhaps trade up to the ones we (think we) want, must stamp out the characters of constant connectivity, Facebooking and Tweeting and Skyping our fingers (or thumbs, at least) to the bone. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/magazine/19wwln-medium-t.html)

It makes me wonder where our spiritual practices fit into all of this. In the opening lecture of my spiritual formation class this week I gave the students my standard spiel about no cell phones or pagers. After class a student explained that his Blackberry now holds his Bible(s) - multiple translations - and that if he shuts it off, he bans the books and the parchments from the classroom experience.

So I’m interested to find out: How does modern technology fit into your spiritual life? Do you shut down the grid to tune into God? Or have you discovered ways for cyberspace to serve spiritual activity? One free volume of Spurgeon’s sermons (old-school: actual pages between hard covers) to the best response.

This entry was posted on August 29, 2009 at 11:01 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Undone by Technicalities?”

  1. Bob says:
    August 29, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    Now this is interesting…your blog has a captcha that involves Math. Will you ever be able to respond to comments on the blog? ;-)

    Ok, My daily Bible Reading is set up by an online plan that takes me through the Bible in a year. I have my choice of translations from which to read, allowing me a fresh take on God’s Word. This year, I’m using the Message for that reading…although every once in a while, I have to go back to a standard translation if I have trouble understanding the message. (Interesting, isn’t that!)

    I have started posting a worship thought and music video on my Facebook page daily…in part due to my response to a Sermon by Steve. Based on the people who respond in any way, God seems to be using those to bless people. I have seen the links I posted later posted by other friends of mine as well, so that action has created some spiraling.

    Sermon prep now takes place mostly through research on the net. I save links and pages that I think will provide background or links, and I search for multimedia examples to augment the sermon visually.

    I used to teach a class for teachers where I asked the question: “How are you using technology to do things that you couldn’t do without it.” To be honest, adding the visual to sermons is the main response to that question here…I could do all of the other things without technology….but it would be a lot more difficult.

  2. Denny Harkins says:
    August 29, 2009 at 5:29 pm

    If Jesus entered the world and incarnated Himself to the culture that existed at the time, If He took on the trappings of that culture; the Rabbinical process, the custom of meeting at the Temple and synagogues, reading from parchments and scrolls, using the oral tradition of storytelling, and on and on …

    Then … would it not make sense He would use Black Berries, Iphones, Power Point, Twitter, video conferencing, texting, on-line distance learning, Facebook, and etc? Would He not fit into our culture, as well, and use those things that are a part of the “normal traffic patterns of our lives?” (to quote someone we both know well).

    The question for me is … what would Jesus use? As a result … what will we use? I vote for using those things that God has gifted humans to invent in our time. Remember people used to think playing a guitar in church was evil.

    Now as for me personally … I would rather find a quiet spot with my Bible and a cup of coffee … turn off all of the outside noise …. be still … and contemplate all that it means to be a follower of the One who most graciously redeemed me to Himself.

    Those dang kids and all their modern toys!

    btw … pagers are so ten minutes ago!

  3. Britany Davis says:
    August 29, 2009 at 8:27 pm

    While, cell phones, with more bells and whistles than early computers, may be available to the lowest economic class, electronic books are not. While $100 may not sound like much to most people, this college student can’t even afford a phone with texting as part of the plan. I love the convenience of the wireless internet in most public places because it’s the closest I will get to commentaries at my finger tips unless I win the lottery. Unless I could get a device that could only read books, I think I will always have a distant friendship, with my cell phone at least. I will always need to put my phone on vibrate or leave it in my car to be alone with God. Why can’t I just shut it off? Because in this technology age, cell phones theoretically give people access to you at all times. I never know who’s going to call and when, who needs my help, or who’s offering theirs in the middle of a prayer when I’m asking God, for help, no less. How dare technology invade my quiet prayers.

    The advent of the wireless internet has made my spiritual life like the relationship between a math student and his calculator. While the device may make some functions easier it also becomes somewhat of a hindrance when used too often at the beginning stages. It’s easy for me to run a search on blueletterbible.com. But if I didn’t actually read the passage, and get alone with God in the first place, then 15 minutes of searching and reading doesn’t get me any farther than a basic intellectual understanding. Technology will always be a battle because it makes everything easier. I love the access to worship music online. That alone is transforming. Still, if I am playing a game online or reading up on the latest E!News, an apparent oxymoron, I have completely missed the purpose of listening to the worship music in the first place.

  4. John says:
    August 31, 2009 at 11:39 pm

    Of course the first form of technicality was the invention of words and the thus created virtual worlds created by these words, that we now all “live” in–quite literally our individual and collective towers of babble/babel.

    How then does one engage True Spiritual Life, which is a process that only begins to begin when the spirit-killing trance created by all our compulsive babblings is transcended, or falls away by Grace.

    http://www.adidam.org/teaching/aletheon/truth-life.aspx

  5. djackson says:
    September 1, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    Britany takes the prize! Britany is now the owner of Spurgeon on Revival. I thought her answer was honest and thoughtful. Thanks to everyone who participated, especially John, a new friend whom I’ve not yet met personally and who did indeed ask a challenging question. All of you helped me shape my own views on this important issue. I hope all of you will jump on board the next time we try something like this.

Leave a Reply