Unplugging & Retirement for Spiritual Growth

Sam Duregger wrote an article in Collide at the beginning of the year on the benefits of unplugging. He opined:

“Inventors are always getting dirty, stubbing their toes, and cutting their fingers on projects for tomorrow. In a real sense, our world has been shaped by hours of toil and the cumulative blood, sweat, and tears of innovators. In my opinion, social media has contributed to the deception that we all can be innovators and leaders, experts and specialists. I think this false sense of ingenuity has led many to adopt a lifestyle that distracts from where God is calling them to employ their gifts and talents. “At some point we must slow down, take a moment, and listen.” Read “Unplug” at Collide Magazine.

I definitely resonate with this article. This past week, I’ve been reading David Brainerd’s diary, as edited by Jonathan Edwards. Brainerd frequently bemoaned the lack of “retirement” (meaning seclusion, or removal from society) when he spent time with friends, and spoke affectionately of the time he spent by himself, as being of great value for spiritual growth. The pace of life today is so much faster than the eighteenth century, and with the advent of Twitter, Facebook, and email, we are inundated constantly with noise. I’m convinced this is directly contributory to our widespread spiritual anaemia.

Scott McClellan posted a follow-up post on the Collide Blog with several practical suggestions on “unplugging.” (Read it here.)

I personally struggle with constantly checking my email, allowing myself to be interrupted constantly with Twitter and Facebook updates, and not taking the time away from technology and from people to get alone with God. I know that my spiritual life is lacking as a result—when I look at the last several years in my journal, I see tremendous growth (followed by tremendous fruit) when I regularly, intentionally got away from normal life and spent hours with God in solitude.

For me, I’m grateful for the original article and yesterday’s post for reminding me of what I need. Now excuse me while I go turn off my phone’s social networking and shut down my email client.