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I’ve already said that no two books have ever gone together so well than NT Wright’s “After You Believe” and Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows”. Carr presents an eye-opening case for us to be more aware of the changes happening not only within our brain, but actually TO our brain due to the informational web era we live in; the fact that our grey matter is constantly in flux, being wired and rewired according to our practices and thoughts. Wright presents a call to a renewed vision of Christian “Virtue”, reminding us that being made a New Creation involves practices and thoughts that we must work at in order that they become second nature over time. That our lives here and now can be practicing the language of the Kingdom to the point where we citizens begin to transform the world around us even now, as we ourselves are transformed.

One example Wright brings up are the Beatitudes. Most of us have heard this section of Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus says “Blessed are those…”, etc. Some translations actually translate the word “happy are those…”, which Wright quickly points out is fruit of a misunderstanding of what it means to follow Christ. As Wright states:

“one of the things that marks Jesus out over against Aristotle in terms of the source and driving energy of the “virtues” – is that this includes “happiness,” but it includes it as the result of something else – namely, the loving action of the creator God.”

He goes on to talk about the fact that these beatitudes are neither an exercise in legalism (a checklist of things to do if you’re following Christ well), nor are the verses that follow (avoiding not just murder, but hatred, not just adultery but lust, etc.) a cry for “really meaning it, not just going through motions.”

In both cases, we hear a calling toward what Wright labels “eschatological authenticity”. That the language and natures of Kingdom living are opened up for us in Jesus Christ to participate in now. It will be a struggle, and we’ll have to pray for grace and strength, but it “is at least now within reach.”

Wright point out: “You can’t collapse the whole question of “how to behave” into the command “It must come naturally, otherwise it isn’t authentic.” Jesus puts it the other way around: he says, in effect, “Follow me, and authenticity will begin to happen.”

When God created human in the garden, we believe He created in His own image. We are created to be the bearers of God’s image into all creation. To reflect God’s glory into the world. In every area of our life. In every season. In every time of day. As a husband, a father, a youth pastor, a friend, a teacher, a student, a brother, a son, etc. To carry the genuine humanity God is calling us to become into each area, and to live accordingly.

To carry faith into situations where others have let go long ago. To bring a solid hope to a world that has experienced far too many broken promises. And to Love in worlds where hurt, brokenness, and suffering have taken place for so long, genuine love is like an ancient myth.

As we do this in the name of Jesus, we bear the image of God in a world that was created for us to do so…and all things are becoming New…

The question when finishing a book like “The Shallows”, that I think to myself as much as I’m asked by friends who know I’ve read it is, “So, will you be using the internet less from now on?” I’ll admit, there are sections of the book where I imagined unplugging. Deleting my facebook, ending my blog, and canceling my chat accounts…all seemed tempting at different moments.

Just as the author, toward the end of the book, confesses to attempting. He admits to being a solitary type man, and being self-employed, has abilities to disconnect many of us couldn’t handle. Then, toward the end of the same chapter, he admits that when finishing this book was near complete, he “plugged in” once again. Even brags on his new Wi-Fi Blu-ray player that streams NetFlix and YouTube, etc.

I don’t think I’ll go into a sort of legalistic re-appraisal of my online connections. But I do think I will be more purposeful in my intellectual and creative development. I’m better familiarized with the benefits of decreasing how much of myself I rely on the “web” for, and how much of my day is unplugged. I see tremendous value in carving out specific time for words on printed pages, and want to work on the habit of using the “off” switch for my laptop’s wireless capabilities.

God has given us an amazing amount of self to create and discover, and an identity that He continues to form in our hearts, minds, and lives. There are large amounts of energy and enthusiasm to share the benefits of technology with the generations who were born before much of it existed. Teaching the elderly, and even the middle-aged how to properly navigate the world-wide web, and all of it’s various facets.

But an area we need to remember, and foster, is to share that bridge in both directions. The abilities our parents and grandparents have to focus on a single concept or idea. The imaginations bolstered and living organic memories of those who have developed them naturally, instead of clicking a search engine for the most relevant facts….should make us want to sit at their feet and listen. As we are raising tomorrow’s generations, may we continue to require not only the ability to type well and navigate, but to sit still. To dream. To listen. To write. To memorize. To create. To discuss and wrestle with a single idea or challenge. To work their way through a densely-packed, beautifully written classic novel…immersed in its’ pages that are completely void of any links or advertising to distract the mind.

Although….I’m okay if we stop teaching cursive. I still don’t get it. 🙂

In the late 1890’s, a group of German psychologists were performing experiments to test the minds’ ability to remember short term. First, they gave a list of nonsense words to a group of people to memorize. A day later, they tested the group, who had no problems recalling the list. Second, they gave the same list to a different group to memorize, but this time gave a 2nd list of words immediately after learning the first. The next day, this group was unable to remember the initial set of words.

But in a third group, they gave a first list to memorize. Then after a delay of two hours, were given the second list to study. As with the first group, these had little trouble recalling the initial set of nonsense words. What does this tell us?

As noted with research on boxers in the late 1800’s, “a memory, even a strong one, remains unstable for a brief period after it’s formed.”

If you’re like me, you’ve immediately begun thinking about practical applications for something like this. Not the least of which – how to encourage families (including my own) to chew on the Word of God brought to the table each Sunday morning throughout the week? Or in schooling, how to make sure that when our children learn something, they can remember it the following day?

By slowing down the pace of life. By reducing the speed at which new activities come. After a lesson or message, paying attention to what comes next. Not jumping right into something that requires large amounts of thought. Of course we also know that reinforcing a topic through repetition, review, and discussion can all help in large ways also.

Which kinda makes the average school day seem less effective, as students move from attaching their brains to one hose of information to the next, with very little time in between to solidify the memory of that knowledge. It seems like it would do parents some good to try and “bring to the surface” each class individually from that day, and after each discussion give some downtime to allow those memories to catch. If anything, to try and schedule the class your student struggles in either just before lunch, or at the end of the day. Although then perhaps you have to fight the anxious distractions of “I’m just about to leave.” syndrome.

As for the Word of God that comes to us New every morning? That upon receiving it, we would spend time, either alone in quiet, or around a table (with food? 🙂 ) discussing and reviewing it together. Which points to meals together after church as being more than just a “nice Sabbath family tradition”, and more of a “vital Sabbath family practice” to encourage the long-term working of God’s Word in our hearts and lives.

In either case, if we want something to be remembered…we stay OFF the internet for a while after it. The immediate requirements placed on our working memory while we use the web fights against our brains ability to consolidate long-term memories and development of schemas.