Unplugging
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Unplugging to Reconnect
-by Cassandra Boom
I unplugged to reconnect
The parts I didn’t mean to neglect
Going Screen-free allowed me to reflect
Distraction felt like pure disrespect
I had complicated emotions
Yet the strangest devotion
To the internet, phones and motion
If only stillness was more like a potion
It turns out this phone break it was needed
Maybe I had a problem, I conceded
For the glowing screens
The endless scenes
And the videos that automatically play
Endless things that I’ve seen
Some nice, some kind of mean
It became a big mess, I have to say
That I struggled to fathom the day
Where I’d finally pull away
Was a fun form of play
The first day I stopped it hurt the most
Was it a Notification or a ghost?
Was I missing out on a post?
Perhaps one that would change my day?
Let’s check in, did I still feel okay?
The Withdrawals felt surreal
Usually screen-time with meals
Now I didn’t even know what to say
Wow, the internet did a lot
These feelings, I forgot
Glad I gave this a shot
For A few months no more and no less
And my thoughts were no longer a mess
I promise I was also less stressed
Felt deeply impressed
Disbelief
And Relief
Thought I had a phone but it had me
With the space I finally began to see
More birds less memes
More sleep, more dreams
More socialization too
And I first I forgot what to do
With my hands without phones with my crew
We are primates with lights
Try to stop, our brain fights
An addiction to screens was the truth
Here I was distracted in my youth
But it’s never too late
I know screen-time is great
But without it I found space to create
To workout, read and write, meditate
Now I feel more at peace
I don’t have to police
My screen-time anymore
It’s a bore
Visit from time to time, it’s a chore
Interrupting my days
My adventurous ways
Rediscovered when I took a break
I wonder how much more I can take
I gained hours of time while awake
It’s improving my life
I am moving my strife
feeling deeply and processing through
Reconnecting to me, like I do
Mental vista, enjoying the view
Now I feel so divine
I am rarely online
This enrichment of life felt the best
Who knew taking a break was a quest
Reprioritized me
Monitor what I see
Have more boundaries from screens for my health
Mental, physical, spiritual and wealth
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The spiritual practice of unplugging “calls us to leave the virtual world of technology in order to become present to God and others.” It quenches my thirst “to be fully present to and uninterrupted in my interactions with God and others.”
-(Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook)
“Alive to her surroundings, she’s alive to life itself.” —Chris Ware
“Prayer is heavenly technology.” —James Aladiran
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Lectio Divina: Psalm 1
Other Scriptures:
He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you see in front of you—eat this scroll—and then go and speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll. He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving to you.” So I ate it, and it was sweet like honey in my mouth. Ezekiel 3:1-3 NET
He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. Psalm 1:3 NET
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NKJV
May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope! Romans 15:13 MSG
Stolen Moments
-by Wendy Gerdes
Our teen son came in and flopped down in the chair after a night of working at Chick Fil A. “Our owner did kind of a cool thing, Mom.” “What’s that?” I inquired. He put question prompts on the tables for families to discuss. I was a bit confused but then he continued, “So many families just sit on their phones while they are eating he is trying to help them engage with each other.” My immediate response was excitement that a restaurant was facilitating family time but then I felt a bit of sadness that it was necessary.
Technology is easy. Being relational is hard. Technology provides easy engagement without the hard work needed in relationships to make them grow. It provides a shelter for us when we are tired and a place to avoid our hearts. It enfolds us when we are worn out and protects us from hard things. Except it doesn’t.
We all know the good uses of technology, but the easy accessibility makes it so easy to use it wrongly. Technology wrongly used hides us in a shelter of promised safety but really it depletes us, closes us off from what is important and deafens us to God. Before we know it, reaching for technology becomes our place of refuge all the while sucking the life right out of us. Technology often takes the place of what is important from us while we are unaware we are being stolen from.
Periodically unplugging gives us the wisdom to see where technology is handling us instead of us handling our technology. The gaping holes left reveals the ways we medicate with the phone, use it to combat boredom, are missing relational opportunities and keeping ourselves safe from the deeper things we are not wanting to deal with. Most of all, unplugging allows us to hear the whisper of God and notice His movements.
Someone once asked theologian and author of Hearing God what is the most important thing you can do to cultivate kids being able to hear God’s voice. His reply was, “Boredom.” He wasn’t meaning kids should be bored but simply that they needed space with themselves to be able to cultivate an inner life. This was his answer before the firestorm of technology had made its way into the world like it has now. This is true for all of us. Without space, our inner life will degrade and begin to become bankrupt.
Mankind didn’t used to have the ability to fill up every empty space with noise, but now we do. It takes intention to allow quiet into our world. Unplugging is necessary for those of us who want a healthy and cultivated inner life that is rich and alive towards God.
*To read more blogs by Wendy, you can read at www.wendygerdes.com
