Reading
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10
Reflection
Where is technology stealing your life?
Technology can enrich our lives in many ways, but it can also have a profoundly negative effect on our lives. It can function like the thief Jesus describes in John 10:10, stealing from us and even destroying what is precious to us. While technology can help, it can also steal the things that make us human.
Over the past decade or two, I’ve noticed screens taking over time that I otherwise would have spent talking with Courtney, reading, praying, exercising, enjoying nature, cleaning, and connecting with friends. It’s also affected my attention span in ways that make it harder to do those things.
I am not striving to live a screen-free life, but I do want to reduce the impact of screens so that I can live a life of presence, connection, and wonder. Over the course of this sermon series, we’ve explored a variety of action steps to help us life a more fully human life—to experience more of the abundant life Jesus promises. I’ve thought of these practices as a sort of rule of life for becoming human again. Here is the full list:
- Practice “landlining” this week: while at home, leave your phone charging in an intentionally inconvenient place.
- Use your breath as an invitation to awareness and prayer.
- Start your day by spending time outside. Leave your phone inside.
- Let moments of wonder draw you into prayers of praise and gratitude.
- Schedule a weekly check-in with a friend.
- Intentionally make eye contact when you speak to people. If you’re married, practice “eye-time” for four minutes before bed.
- When you grab your phone to avoid a hard feeling, “ride the wave”: take a breath, set the phone down, and feel the feeling.
- Set aside 10 minutes to honestly share with God what is true for you these days—your greatest joys and deepest sorrows.
- Read a physical Bible.
- Sit in solitude with God for at least five minutes each day this week—praying, reading, meditating, or resting in God.
- Consider a loss that you are still grieving. Following the five steps of the “Paschal Cycle” (see * below), surrender it to God.
As you consider your own life, where is technology stealing your life? What practices—either those listed above or others—might help you open yourself to Jesus’ abundant life? Since we began the series, the one that has had the greatest impact on me is going outside to pray and read scripture before picking up my phone.
Take time to prayerfully consider how God might be inviting you to set boundaries to prevent technology from stealing your life. Jesus came to bring us abundant life. May we remove every obstacle to receiving that life and embracing it fully.
Prayer
God our Creator,
You formed us in your image
and breathed into us the Breath of Life.
Help us to receive the amazing gift of abundant life
That you have given us.
Remove every obstacle that gets in the way,
So that we might live lives
Fully open to your grace.
Amen.
* These are the five steps of the Paschal Cycle described by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser in his book The Holy Longing:
- Name your deaths.
- Claim your births.
- Grieve what you have lost and adjust to the new reality.
- Do not cling to the old, let it ascend and give you its blessing.
- Accept the spirit of the life that you are in fact living.
