I lost my phone last night which was providential because I really wanted to spend a good solid chunk of time reading without distractions. I picked up my husband's copy of "Desiring God" and picked up where I had left off. I was soon very very discouraged. I only got about a sentence or two in when my mind started wandering. I started thinking about what shoes I would wear to a wedding this weekend. "Kristin, what's the matter with you!" I would reprimand myself and try to continue reading. No sooner had I started when my mind started wandering again. Cookies.
This went on for about half an hour, and after only getting through a page and a half and not remembering anything I read, I gave up, shut the book, and rolled over in bed to pray before drifting off to sleep.
I remember when the internet first appeared in my home. My dad got it all hooked up in our basement, and the first web address I excitedly typed in was "www.zoogdisney.com" because I had seen it advertised on the Disney channel ALL THE TIME. Well, that was the beginning, and my usage of this miracle called the internet never truly waned. During my junior high and senior high years I know without a doubt I spend more time chatting on AOL Instant Messenger than I actually did studying or doing homework. I think I used the internet as an escape as things weren't always very pretty or relaxing at home (that's another long story for another time). At least my internet friends "understood" me. I'm rolling my eyes now just thinking about all the second-rate places I sought acceptance rather than Jesus.
Now, here I am, 25 years old and still struggling with how much to use the internet. Heck, I'm using it right now. It's not evil after all.
Anyway, the point I wanted to get to was that my generation (but not only mine) LOVES the insignificant. We love and are slaves to pointless information. The internet is full of information that we greedily cram into our brains, most of which is 100% useless. This has to stop. I look at my one-year-old son Owen and think about what life will be like for him as a child surrounded and continually assaulted by visual and audial stimuli. Will he end up like me or like his father? One of us can't get through one page of a great book without going into La La Land, and the other reads and retains everything!
Think on this and tell me what you think.
