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Where Did You Come From?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Cell Sin | TheResurgence

A great blog entry from the recovering digiholic, Mark Driscoll. This is a must read. Has your cell phone become your lord?

posted by theultrarev at 9:40 PM

Comments on "Cell Sin | TheResurgence"

 

Blogger Luke said ... (7:08 AM, October 19, 2007) : 

I didn't find that blog entry particularly insightful. If you are going to fast from technology, why not fast from the refrigerator? Go to the store every day to purchase only what you need that day, cook and eat everything you buy that day, store nothing. Does that reduce your stress? And if you aren’t willing to do that, has your refrigerator become a god to you?

If cell=sin, why is it OK to be connected with two cell phones and a laptop and other devices (as he mentions) when you are NOT on vacation? Is sin that situational? Is sin something we just fast from, or something we try to change permanently?

On the other hand, what form of over-indulgence isn’t sinful?

If you are going to become addicted to communication, you can fast from devices that do that – but you are going to find something else to be addicted to. The bigger question, to me, is not THAT people behave in certain ways, but WHY. I don’t care about the communication devices – but why are relationships with family of so little importance that casual contact with distant people is seen as more important? Or is that what is really going on? And can we conclude, from casual observation of people in that setting – given that we DON’T see the majority of their lives together, just little snippets of one group at the pool, another at dinner, others on bikes – that what we are seeing is truly representative of the relationships involved?

Is there no value in spending time talking to friends while you are on vacation? If you kids are happy, playing in the pool, and that isn’t something you enjoy – what is sinful about feeding fellowship by connecting with a friend? Maybe, if you weren’t on vacation, you wouldn’t take the time to talk to that person. Maybe there are relationships other than the one with your children that are being restored and strengthened, while no great sacrifice is made in the relationship with the kids.

And maybe, truly, some people DO need a reality check. If so - how is that going to be provided?

I always take my notebook PC on vacation. I journal on it, I write poetry on it, I download digital pictures to it to make more space on the camera. I check my personal e-mail. Sometimes, I play games on it. And from time to time, I check my work e-mail. This is not a work-related obsession; this is a recognition that I can reduce the stress of re-entry into the work environment if I take a brief amount of time during my vacation to clear out some of that e-mail. My vacation is about reducing stress – not necessarily just deferring it.

This year, I had my cell phone with me all the time. Why? I’m the chairman of a church without a pastor - and without any full time employees. The congregation needed the reassurance of knowing they could get in touch with me. Was looking out for the needs of a community of faith a sin from which I need to repent? I think not. Further – it did not inhibit me from reading for hours and hours at a time, or just sitting in that Adirondack chair on the dock of the boat house, watching the Racquette River slide by in one direction and the clouds slide by in the other. It did not prevent me from taking the kayak up stream a couple of miles and watching the beavers, otters, hawks, deer, herons, and other wildlife in their natural habitat. It did not prevent me from landing a fly delicately on the surface of the river and taking a fish or two. Nor did it prevent me from sharing those moments with those I love, on vacation with me. But how am I judged, given that I had both the laptop and the cell phone with me on vacation? Sinner?

I also found the blog a bit judgmental in its sanctimonious observations on the behaviors of others. If we choose to fast from something, should we always be looking critically at others who are not fasting? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

OK, this started to be a couple of lines long… sigh… shuttingupnow!

 

Blogger theultrarev said ... (8:53 AM, October 19, 2007) : 

Maybe it hit me because I've worked with those guys, who say they are on vacation but are sending me email and calling me everyday. I completely lose respect for them.

There's this sense that they view themselves as so important that they can't go away. Furthermore, when they do it they set the standard for the rest of the organization. Even when they say otherwise, the expectation still feels the like we're all supposed to do it. I really resent that.

You are probably right. It's the "why" that's important not the "what". And Driscoll is judgmental. But there are a whole lot of kids and spouses out there feeling like their loved one is never fully present with them, even on vacation when they would most expect him/her to be, because they are constantly checking their crackberry and mentally dealing with other issues.

 

Blogger Luke said ... (10:49 AM, October 20, 2007) : 

UltraRev:

Yeah, you're right. And people who feel that important are usually compensating for insecurities and fear that they will found to be NOT important. But the problem isn't with the technology, it is with the failure to set intentional priorities, and to value real, immediate, sometimes messy relationships...

 

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