Dear St. Paul’s Family,
Then the angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; I am bringing you good news by e-mail and text message. You can visit his Facebook page and follow him with Twitter. Be sure to check out his new website, and download his iPhone App….
Neuroscientist Gary Small has studied the effects that this vast array of digital technologies has had on the human brain. With every moment spent on the internet, e-mail, smart phones, PDA’s, television, and the like, our brains are literally being rewired, through complex biochemical and neural reactions.
There have been several benefits, of course. Generally speaking, hand-eye coordination has improved, as well as our ability to multi-task. But it has also had harmful effects. Changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – the part of our brain responsible for decision making – make us less able to focus on one task at a time, diminish our short-term memory, and produce a state of “continuous partial attention,” in which we find it more difficult to spend a prolonged time in patient, thoughtful contemplation.
Despite our new abilities to communicate efficiently with more people at a time, our rewired brains also make it harder for us to deeply and intimately connect with people one on one. We become unable to recognize subtle meaning in a person’s facial expressions, and be fully present with them in conversation. We lose the “personal touch.”
And most disturbing of all, Dr. Small has discovered that our hippocampus – the part of our brain that, among other things, determines feelings of self-esteem and self-worth – is gradually shrinking. This explains what many describe as “brain strain” or “digital fog” after spending long hours with their digital devices. We feel irritable, lonely, tired, and of general low self-worth.
Now pardon the utter irony in the fact that I discovered Dr. Small’s findings while perusing the web, in an article from the latest issue of Scientific American Mind (“Meet Your iBrain: How the Technologies That Have Become Part of Our Daily Lives are Changing the Way We Think.”) And excuse the fact that I’m sharing this with you through yet another e-mail that you have to read lest it clutter up your inbox.
I offer this caution to myself as much as to anyone else. As a 35-year old Gen-Xer among the first generation to grow up in the digital culture, I am as big a techie as the next person, with my laptop computer, wi-fi access, iPod, smart phone, and cable television.
But I think this all points to another way to prepare for and appreciate what God did through Jesus Christ. When God chose to offer an ultimate revelation to humanity, God did not choose another written edict, or another cryptic message hidden in creation for us to decipher. God chose a personal, one-on-one encounter, spending time with us, experiencing life as one of us, the Creator becoming creation.
God chose the Incarnation, and we called him, “God With Us.”
Maybe there’s a lesson here for all of us brain-strained, digitally-fogged creatures. About the importance of being present and personal with each other, just as God did for us.
- It might mean only checking e-mail a few times a day. Turn off the computer after 8:00 or 9:00 at night. Set aside your PDA or smart phone. Remember, you’re not that important.
- Remember that family dinner table? Put it to good use again, and remind your kids what it means to interact with someone, face to face.
- The next time you think about sending an e-mail, trying giving that person a call. If possible, pay them a personal visit and look them in the eye. Or try actually handwriting a note, with your own hand, in an envelope stamped with your own spit (do they even make licking stamps anymore?).
- Read an actual book that you hold with your hands. Or a newspaper that you peruse with your own fingers. Given the awful news about the Tribune Co. declaring bankruptcy, it would be good to remember the benefits of print media.
And that dusty book of chapters and verses sitting unused in your house? Open it up. Reading the written Word is the best way to get to know the Word Made Flesh. One on one, face to face. Spend some time, distraction-free, focusing only on this God who went great lengths to draw near to you. It’s time to return the favor.
Together, let’s prepare the way.
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org
No comments:
Post a Comment