“Death by Minutiae”

“Digital Liturgies” — Week 9 Reflection

Contradictions on Contradictions

“The age of connectedness is the age of loneliness. The age of productivity is the age of burnout.” The author James makes this seemingly absurd statement in the 8th chapter of his book. These statements about the internet are seemingly contradictory in their nature. How can we have a time of being the most connected to others, and yet people are feeling the most alone? How can we have a time where we can have so much power and ability to get things done, and yet people are falling and failing even faster and getting less done. How can the internet promise so much, and yet produce such tragic results?

Well, James argues it is because the internet causes us to dislocate ourselves. The internet is causing us to be elsewhere and not where we physically are. And this dislocation is changing us slowly to be more distracted in times of solitude and quiet. We cannot be where we are physically well because the internet is taking us and teaching us to be elsewhere every time we open it.

It’s a scary thought, but I see it in my own life so plainly. I can be a very distracted person. I lose things all the time. I forget why I walked in a room always asking the question “why am I here?” And I struggle sitting alone in solitude without my mind driving me up a wall. I never really thought of the internet as shaping me in such a way as James is presenting in this book. I have always been an advocate of the internet and all its benefits. I know that it comes with a lot of dangers, but what’s a little time of scrolling and YouTube watching here and there. Except, sometimes those scrolling sessions turn into 45 minutes and those YouTube times become hours long. And, even when it is not that long it is still shaping me.

Fighting Against a Dislocated Existence

I am thankful that James brings these ideas to light, because in order for us to fight against what the internet is teaching, we must first be aware of the enemy we are fighting. But he doesn’t stop there. He also gives us the way to fight against this dislocation that the internet attaches to everything we do on the web. And we fight it with Scripture.

Particularly, filling our minds with the truths of Jesus and seeing ourselves in light of him. When we understand that it is our thoughts that are at stake, then we can go to the God who gives peace in our thoughts to help us. It is God’s peace that can not only reign our thoughts in, but also keep us grounded where we are. We are not disembodied people; we are God’s creation made to think on him and glorify him. God has placed us where we are because he wants us to be where we are. While the internet is subtly teaching dislocation, God’s word is shouting at us to be in our location.

The internet may connect us, but it is making us lonely. The internet can cause us to be more productive, but it is causing us to give up and burn out. But we can have peace in our hearts and minds through God and his word. We can use the internet and wisely fast from the internet in a way that protects us from its subtle teachings. We can use it knowing that we must have God shape us first, especially in our thoughts. So, if you are feeling dislocated, disillusioned, or distracted, then go to God and his word, and he will bring peace. As James says, “The thought life that feasts on the riches of the true, the just, and the lovely, is the thought life that is radically liberated by the peace of God that overcomes our restless, screen-weary souls as we ask for it.”