Technology in our lives

Have you ever had the experience of wanting something? Then waiting and doing a bunch of research to find out the best brand and model of whatever you are looking for, finally finding the exact model you want, and then buying it with great joy, only to find out a week later that there is a newer and better version coming out in a few weeks. Or, have you seen something that you might enjoy and sure that there is going to be a newer version out soon and waiting and waiting for it, then finally it does come out and the newer version is disappointing and you wasted the time that you would be able to use the new thing, for a disappointment. These kinds of things happen all the time.

Most of you know, that in my previous life, I was in the technology industry, and the speed at which technology develops is incredible. I remember my first computer in the 80’s, a Commodore 64 with 64k of ram. Just to put that in perspective my current 3-year-old computer has 8,000,000k of ram. I also remember my first cell phone back in 1993: no texting, no internet, a 5–10-hour battery life, no free roaming, no free long distance, and limited time in conversations with a discount after 7:00pm. Things move fast in the IT industry, what is coming off the assembly line today is already obsolete.

So, how does this help us to grow closer to Christ? The newest and fastest device on the market cannot help us to be in the family of God. On the contrary, there is nothing new and updated about our spiritual life. We need to take some time and slow ourselves down in order to spend that good time with the Lord. We still have Mass and get the ability to receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity each and every day. We still pray and ask the Lord to help us, we still need to rely on God’s grace and mercy, even if the world is moving so fast. Technology can help us to prepare for the Sacraments in our lives, for example, there are apps to help with Confession, there are apps that can help us with the readings for the Mass each day, but they cannot give us these Sacraments. We still have to go to the priest to receive Absolution and we can only receive Jesus in the Eucharist in person.

While the things of the world constantly change, God never does, and God will never abandon us. We cannot lose God so that we can never find him or he find us. He will always be up to date in our lives, even if we ignore him or do not see him working in our lives. While technology can assist us in many things of our lives, like directions, or the ability to connect with a loved one that is far away from us, it can never replace that incredible relationship with our God and Creator who wants us to be with him. I invite you to take some time to put aside the technology for a couple of minutes each day and spend it with our loving God.

God bless,
Fr. Ken