Unplugging
Unplugging
It is not uncommon for my first two days after vacation to be a technological marathon. Phone calls and hundreds of e-mails demand attention, swamping all face-to-face communication. I hunker down and proceed to “interact” without ever looking into anyone’s eyes or sorting out the cues of body language. As the “out of office” notice disappears from my e-mail, colleagues write, “Glad you are back!” Then they hit send. We are back in “touch.” Two or three days after my return, my e-mail inbox reaches its more or less constant threshold—but I have barely had any face-to-face contact.
Once the electronic swamp is cleared away I settle into life as normal. Normal life includes hours of staring at a computer screen, where I answer e-mail and write sermons and talks. The Internet is constantly at my disposal to help my “interaction” with colleagues and parishioners. Normalcy includes having a cell phone, which makes me available and interruptible at meals, in the middle of conversations, in meetings. Normalcy also includes meetings where people type notes into computers and PDAs—all the while looking down rather than at the face of the presenter. Just as campusless education, checkless banking, floorless stock trading and travelless meetings characterize the culture, faceless communication characterizes more and more of my world as a pastor. On my last birthday a colleague sent me an e-mail birthday wish, but he never made it the ten steps between our two office doors. I am as guilty as the next guy when it comes to convenience, but somehow this sort of “interaction” feels a bit sinister to me. Have I in fact left the world of interpersonal communication and entered that brave new fragmented world of technospeak?
The more I think about this, the more I wonder if Richard Mouw isn’t right when he suggests that there is no “inter” to the Net. The galaxy of information the World Wide Web has offered me has fragmented my world and relationships, and left me alone.
Unplugging recognizes that personal beings are created for personal interaction by a personal God. We need to be in the presence of each other. Digital connections aren’t enough to keep us healthy. We need to be touched. We need nonverbal signals. We need uninterrupted spaces in our lives for the presence of God and the presence of others.
With the aid of technology we can attempt to juggle multiple worlds at the same time. But we can’t keep juggling for twenty-four hours a day and not get worn out.
In a world where people use the Internet an average of 30 hours a week and keep the TV or radio on 7.9 hours a day, we need to get unplugged from virtual reality and address our addiction to technology and the toxins it brings into our lives. Unplug, and look into the eyes of another human face—see the beauty of God’s creation!
Reflection Questions
- How has technology influenced your relationships?
Do friends and family complain about the amount of time you spend online?
What is their real concern?
- Are you online for both work and pleasure?
What do you like about being online? What don’t you like about it?
- What sort of temptations does cyberspace hold for you?
How do you address these temptations?
- Where are you using technology to avoid face-to-face encounters?
- Have you ever been “yelled at” via e-mail? What was that like for you?
Spiritual Exercises
- Technology assessment: Keep track of the amount of time you spend on the computer or talking on the phone each day. How much time does this amount to each week? • Keep track of the uninterrupted time you spend in the presence of family and friends each day and week. Compare the times. • Is God inviting you to reprioritize anything based on this awareness? • If you cut back using the computer one hour a week, how could you use this time to be in the presence of God or others?
- Plan a no–e-mail day or week. Let people know you will not be answering your e-mail—but you will take phone calls and meet with people.
- What is it like for you to receive a handwritten letter from a friend? • Write a non-electronic letter to a friend. What surfaces in you while you take the time to do this? • What is gained and what is lost in electronic communication? What do you think of the trade-offs?
- Which relationships in your life need face time? • Plan face-to-face time with several people this week. Do not let this time be interrupted by anything electronic.
Resources on Unplugging
The Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster
The Shattered Lantern by Ronald Rolheiser
The Unknown God by Alister McGrath
