Leave the Tech Behind and Take a Walk
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Forty years ago, would anyone believe our lives would revolve around a thin rectangular slab of glass and metal? We couldn’t imagine needing a phone on our person at all times. Then, to find out that this phone rarely gets calls. We send words and even sentences to each other by texting, instead of talking on our phones. We use these slabs as powerful computers that put just about everything at our disposal. We couldn’t believe it because the technology was beyond our ability to conceptualize. Cell phones are just one example of the fast-changing world we live in.
According to Kevin Kelly, in his book The Inevitable, the next thirty years will be infinitely faster. Soon, we will not need to carry around a glass-and-metal slab. The technology will quickly become so small it will be with us always. We can already access the internet from our glasses. How long before we can access the computer through our contact lenses? Unless you are my wife, you no longer need a Garmin, because the maps will be displayed on our phone or auto screen. We will summon music from Siri or Alexa through a tiny mechanism attached to or embedded in our bodies.
As cars become driverless, cars will be transformed into workstations and entertainment centers. The WiFi in our cars will be as expansive as in our homes. Technology will become just another appendage on our bodies. There is only one problem. How do we ever relax and become mindful of God’s still small voice? One of my favorite writers is a Vietnamese Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. He challenges us to live with mindfulness. He calls us to free our minds from chaos and clutter, enter the simplicity of meditation, and enjoy simple pleasures like a walk in the woods.
Thich Nhat Hanh says, in his book, The Miracle of Mindfulness, “I like to walk alone on country paths, rice plants and wild grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the earth in mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth.” When we walk in mindfulness, we see the simple miracles around us. The miracles of wind on our face, the smell of freshly cut grass, the crunch of our boots against snow and ice. Today, take a walk, but turn off the cell phone and don’t listen to music. Just walk, attempting to notice every little bit of the sidewalk and sights around you. The more you empty your mind, the more room God has to fill it with divine thoughts and feelings.
