Sometimes technology makes me sad. This is true, especially for the Lenten Season. It makes it nearly impossible for people (of any modern world view) to find soul refreshment so crucial to survival and thriving. Human flourishing cannot occur in a capsule addicted to noise and device. “The inner man must be renewed.” Refreshed, yes, but even more, reborn. Spring and Lent combine to miraculously gift us with nature’s rebirth in music, light, color and song. If we can empty ourselves of the distractions. IF.

Pascal has said that the great problem with modern man is that he cannot sit in a quiet room alone. In a Harvard study, subjects were told to sit in a bare room with an electric shock machine. At the start, they were given one electric shock which each individual confirmed was decidedly unpleasant. Around the 15-minute mark the college-aged men began giving themselves shocks, doing so with shorter and shorter intervals as the 30 minutes drew to a close. (Women did as well but in lower numbers.) We would rather experience pain than sit in stillness and silence.

Silence, Solitude, Stillness, Space, Spirit, Serenity…ok enough with the ‘S’ words, but they are each good for focused intention. Many self-help books and meditational practices are helpful and extremely popular — at some level we all constantly hunger for a filling of joy and peace: how ever you describe this basic human need. Suffice it here to begin with a reminder to return to breath and simplicity: to listen, to relax, to enjoy. And to hear the music of the universe, the song of antiquity, drawing all mankind into It/Himself.

Do The Important Things which have nothing whatever to do with modern technology, or modern-anything-at-all. ‘Modern Conveniences’ have brought modern complications. Media has brought mania. And so on. To Chesterton’s quote above: before 1903 a person spent free time:

playing with a babies

gardening, without air pods

walking in nature, without air pods (listen to the birds, water running, silence)

reading by the fireplace,

sharing tea, coffee or wine with friends,

listening to all kinds of inspirational, reflective, and empowering music,

soaking in works of art,

creating lovely things by hand,

enjoying narrative and theatre,

and flowers…Here, on an early Spring walk, unexpected flowers on my forest walk, reflecting the simplicity and miracle of new birth every time.