Log Off for Inspiration

Have you heard we might soon have a new saint for the digital age? Blessed Carlo Acutis has recently had a second miracle attributed to him recognized by the Vatican allowing him to be put forward for canonization to sainthood.

Blessed Carlo Acutis was a 15 year old who died in 2006 of cancer. Like many kids today, he had computer skills and liked video games. He created a database to record Eucharistic miracles. He helped local poor in his area, including volunteering for a soup kitchen.

"To always be close to Jesus, that's my life plan," he wrote when he was 7 years old.

(USCCB Public Affairs office, 2024)

Being online can be a great way to minister and reach out to others. It's what I'm hoping to do with this blog. It can be an easy way to keep in touch with friends and family that we aren't able to visit with in person. During the COVID lockdowns being online basically preserved our collective sanity. And in times of trouble, it gives us another way to check in on each other.

But for all the good the internet does, there is also a downside. Too much of a good thing, is still too much. A lot of our being online these days is more about habit or addiction than any meaningful connections. Much of social media is a time-suck vortex of mis-information and nonsense. There are many areas of the internet that will ruin a person, either by scams or by temptation. Sometimes both.

It now seems like every facet of our lives is online - only a click away. If your life is like mine, you spend most of your day in front of a screen. I can't do my job without the internet, social media, or email. I order my groceries online. I order dinner online. I order stuff for my house and pets online. I read books online. Go to school online. Watch TV and movies that I stream online.

Recently, though, due to circumstances beyond my control, I was forced o slow down and 'unplug' my life. I had no electricity and gasp! no internet. I was forced to do my own grocery shopping and cross items off a paper list, old school style. If I wanted to read it had to be a paper book with actual pages to turn. I actually went to visit friends and family in person. I opened the Bible. Much of the fast paced stress vanished. I could take some time to go outside and just breathe. I wrote with pen and paper and I prayed.

Sometimes we clutter our lives with so much that we don't need. The daily grind and noise wears us down in a way we don't realize is happening until we are forced to take a step back. The internet has become a new and demanding god controlling much of our lives.

The internet & being online has become our generation's golden calf. How much are we sacrificing at this idol's keyboard? And for what, really? A bit of convenience?

This may sound a bit backwards, since this is a new online blog, but... I propose, if you haven't done so recently, unplug for a few days. Re-assess (honestly) how much of you life is given to screen time. Take a bit to re-dedicate you life and time to God. Go to confession if you realize, like me, that you have put the internet in God's place in your life. Open the physical Bible and ask God to help re-prioritize your life in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Let's clear the online noise and clutter. Let's listen to God's loving word to give us new inspiration on life.

References

USCCB Public Affairs office. (2024, May 23). Pope recognizes miracle needed for church’s first “millennial” saint. USCCB. https://www.usccb.org/news/2024/pope-recognizes-miracle-needed-churchs-first-millennial-saint.

Pew Research Center. (2021, March 25). About three-in-ten Americans go online ‘almost constantly,’ but this varies greatly by age | Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/03/26/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-say-they-are-almost-constantly-online/ft_2021-03-26_alwaysonline_02-png/.