Simple

Technology is such a bitter-sweet thing. Without it my wife (and maybe daughter) would not be alive... so right there it has its uses. And the microwave? Enough said. Still there are moments when I am overwhelmed by it all. I'll be on my computer, watching television, music in the background, and wonder why it's hard to communicate to my wife.

Sometimes I wish it were all gone. I don't really mean it, but I do wish it were limited. When I'm forced to be without a computer and television, my appreciation for music skyrockets... and because music makes me think, my relationship with God opens up some more. My relationships with people also seem to improve.

I guess what I'm really wondering is other than the necessities (medical, military, etc.), has it improved our lives? If the measure of improvement was either happiness OR our relationship with God, then I'm willing to say... no. It hasn't improved anything. Yes, people can be reached around the world in ways we never could dream, and that is tribute to those who use technology well. Still, most of us become so congested with it, that I don't understand its value.

I encourage people I mentor to practice solitude. I encourage people to turn off their cell phones when they can, turn off their iPods, and be without it all for a time. Silence has become far too scary, our need to be in immediate connection an unnecessary addiction, and lost in it all is knowing who we are stripped down to the core.

Go live in a foreign country without those things and you will know exactly what I mean... and you'd probably thank me for it.