December 13, 2023 7:00 pm
I set my phone down, weary of the constant bombardment of images, ideas, and notifications that the little screen broadcasted. Then, I picked it up and turned it on again. Why?
In his 2013 book The Shallows, Nicholas Carr describes how the internet has shaped our relationship with stillness: “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.”
Living life on a mental jet ski doesn’t sound healthy. But how do we begin to slow down, to dive deeply into still spiritual waters?
In Psalm 131, David writes, “I have calmed and quieted myself” (v. 2). David’s words remind me that I have responsibility. Changing habits starts with my choice to be still—even if I must make that choice over and over again. Slowly, though, we experience God’s satisfying goodness. Like a little child, we rest in contentment, remembering that He alone offers hope (v. 3), soul-satisfaction that no smartphone app can touch and no social media site can deliver.
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Hey there and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled Appetite for Distraction was written by Adam R. Holes. I set my phone down, weary of the constant bombardment of images, ideas, and notifications that the little screen broadcasted. Then I picked it up and turned it on again.
Why? In his book The Shallows, Nicholas Carr describes how the internet has shaped our relationship with stillness. What the net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I'm online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the net distributes it in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the Sea of Words.
Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski. Living life on a mental jet ski doesn't sound healthy, but how do we begin to slow down, to dive deeply into still spiritual waters? In Psalm 31, David writes, I have calmed and quieted myself. David's words remind me that I have responsibility.
Changing habits start with my choice to be still, even if I must make that choice over and over again. Slowly though, we experience God satisfying goodness. Like a little child, we rest in contentment, remembering that He alone offers hope, soul satisfaction that no smartphone app can touch and no social media site can deliver.
Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is Psalm 131. My heart is not proud, Lord. My eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself. I am like a weaned child with its mother. Like a weaned child, I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forevermore. Let's pray. Father, the world is filled with distractions that constantly beg for our attention but don't satisfy our soul. Draw our hearts and minds away from all these empty distractions and fill us with the genuine contentment that can only come through you. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. I'm Stephen Tabor and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-12-13 20:58:14 / 2023-12-13 20:59:34 / 1
