I bumped into something really intriguing the other day. While watching the news, a special report came on about a guy who tried a really radical experiment. Here’s the story.
In the Fall of 2011, Jake Reilly was a student at the University of Wisconsin. One evening, he and his five other roommates were sitting around watching a basketball game. All of a sudden, it dawned on Jake that every person in the room was either on a lap top computer or a Blackberry doing something on-line. They were all physically there but distracted and not really present to each other. Jake spoke up and said, “Guys, what are we doing?! We should be enjoying each other’s company.” After this episode, Jake took a closer look at what his life had become. He realized that he was spending 1 ½ hours a day on Facebook, following about 250 people on Twitter and living on the cell phone through texting and occasional calls. This discovery made Jake realize it was “time to reconnect with real, live people.” He decided to go “gadget free” for 90 days. He “unplugged completely”- no TV, no social media, no texting, no cell phone.
Jake admitted the experiment was scary for the first few weeks. He was pretty anxious about missing out on something. But soon, his mind “fell into a state of freedom.”
He found it “freeing to not care and to not worry about the next best thing.” He found his relationships deepened and improved because he was able to be fully present and focus on the people before him. Jake managed to stay in touch with people in some creative ways. He wrote over 100 letters and delivered messages on his bike during the experiment. He even wrote messages to a friend with chalk on the sidewalk in front of his apartment.
All in all, Jake learned “social media has no end game. All you’re going to be doing is just comparing your life to everyone else’s life. There will always be someone with a better job or a better girlfriend. It’s OK to be happy with what you have. And unplugging is a great way to explore just being happy with each other.”
I can’t help but think that Jake’s story has some good things to show us in an increasingly connected, yet impersonal world. Even more, Jake’s story leads me to think about the season upon us. It’s Lent.
Lent has very ancient roots and was one of the Church’s earlier traditions. Like the Israelite’s 40 years in the wilderness and Jesus’ 40 days of temptation, Lent covers the 40 days leading up to Holy Week and Easter. The key to understanding Lent is its nearness to the celebration of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has offered salvation to all who trust in Jesus’ work and give their lives back to God. It is this great salvation that spills out upon Lent, giving it its meaning. Lent isn’t so much about “giving something up” for 40 days. Lent focuses upon conversion and discipleship. It’s about leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to get free and to embrace new life in Christ. Lent is about following Jesus.
During Lent, we double down on a particular known sin in our lives, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to lessen that sin’s hold on us or to even set that sin aside. Remember, the goal is freedom and new life in Christ. This is no time to gut things out and move along by sheer will power. This is a time of intentional cooperation with God, for only God’s power can truly set us free from sin. That’s why fasting and prayer are so closely associated with Lent. In a lot of ways, Lent is like boot camp: its 40 days of training that prepare us for the rest of the year. For putting sin aside and following Jesus are the ways of the disciple.
Most folks will have plans for Easter, but how about Lent?
Here’s my plan. I like to surf the web to catch up on the news and the political scene. One thing I’ve noticed, though, the more of the news I take in, the more cynical and depressed I get. There seems to be an inverse relationship between the level of joy and peace I experience and the amount of news I encounter…..Less news, more joy and peace. More news, less joy and peace. I’m going to limit my exposure to the news to 15 minutes total each day. I’m also going to read the Psalms for 15 minutes each day. My prayer will be for God to establish peace and joy in my heart like I encounter in most of the psalms.
How about you? Do you have any plans for Lent? I invite you to make Lent count. Get a plan. Invite God in. Grow in Christ.
In the Fall of 2011, Jake Reilly was a student at the University of Wisconsin. One evening, he and his five other roommates were sitting around watching a basketball game. All of a sudden, it dawned on Jake that every person in the room was either on a lap top computer or a Blackberry doing something on-line. They were all physically there but distracted and not really present to each other. Jake spoke up and said, “Guys, what are we doing?! We should be enjoying each other’s company.” After this episode, Jake took a closer look at what his life had become. He realized that he was spending 1 ½ hours a day on Facebook, following about 250 people on Twitter and living on the cell phone through texting and occasional calls. This discovery made Jake realize it was “time to reconnect with real, live people.” He decided to go “gadget free” for 90 days. He “unplugged completely”- no TV, no social media, no texting, no cell phone.
Jake admitted the experiment was scary for the first few weeks. He was pretty anxious about missing out on something. But soon, his mind “fell into a state of freedom.”
He found it “freeing to not care and to not worry about the next best thing.” He found his relationships deepened and improved because he was able to be fully present and focus on the people before him. Jake managed to stay in touch with people in some creative ways. He wrote over 100 letters and delivered messages on his bike during the experiment. He even wrote messages to a friend with chalk on the sidewalk in front of his apartment.
All in all, Jake learned “social media has no end game. All you’re going to be doing is just comparing your life to everyone else’s life. There will always be someone with a better job or a better girlfriend. It’s OK to be happy with what you have. And unplugging is a great way to explore just being happy with each other.”
I can’t help but think that Jake’s story has some good things to show us in an increasingly connected, yet impersonal world. Even more, Jake’s story leads me to think about the season upon us. It’s Lent.
Lent has very ancient roots and was one of the Church’s earlier traditions. Like the Israelite’s 40 years in the wilderness and Jesus’ 40 days of temptation, Lent covers the 40 days leading up to Holy Week and Easter. The key to understanding Lent is its nearness to the celebration of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has offered salvation to all who trust in Jesus’ work and give their lives back to God. It is this great salvation that spills out upon Lent, giving it its meaning. Lent isn’t so much about “giving something up” for 40 days. Lent focuses upon conversion and discipleship. It’s about leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to get free and to embrace new life in Christ. Lent is about following Jesus.
During Lent, we double down on a particular known sin in our lives, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we seek to lessen that sin’s hold on us or to even set that sin aside. Remember, the goal is freedom and new life in Christ. This is no time to gut things out and move along by sheer will power. This is a time of intentional cooperation with God, for only God’s power can truly set us free from sin. That’s why fasting and prayer are so closely associated with Lent. In a lot of ways, Lent is like boot camp: its 40 days of training that prepare us for the rest of the year. For putting sin aside and following Jesus are the ways of the disciple.
Most folks will have plans for Easter, but how about Lent?
Here’s my plan. I like to surf the web to catch up on the news and the political scene. One thing I’ve noticed, though, the more of the news I take in, the more cynical and depressed I get. There seems to be an inverse relationship between the level of joy and peace I experience and the amount of news I encounter…..Less news, more joy and peace. More news, less joy and peace. I’m going to limit my exposure to the news to 15 minutes total each day. I’m also going to read the Psalms for 15 minutes each day. My prayer will be for God to establish peace and joy in my heart like I encounter in most of the psalms.
How about you? Do you have any plans for Lent? I invite you to make Lent count. Get a plan. Invite God in. Grow in Christ.
RSS Feed