All tools and technology come with their own inherent requirements for wisdom, some more than others. It’s the classic myth of Prometheus who stole fire from the gods, thus giving humanity technology. He is punished for this by Zeus who had him bound to a rock, with his liver being eaten out every day. The myth says a lot about the ancient gods who were forever withholding from creatures they tolerated at best and exploited for their own amusement at worst. It also signals that there are inherent dangers with any new technology or tool, and we often have the technology long before we acquire the wisdom to use it.

God, on the other hand, created us in his image and, because we share in God’s nature in ways theologians called the “communicable attributes” of God, God made us to advance civilization and human thriving by making tools that make life both easier and better. However, the problem with an unfettered adoption of any and all technology as a positive good is that our tools also reshape our sensibilities. I am an early adopter of new technology. My yard and garden bear witness; a 52-inch zero-turn mower, weed-eater, and blower all testify to the fact that I don’t want to go back to what I was doing in my yard when I was 9 years old. My garden is also in raised beds and watered by micro-irrigation. As result, I have way more time now to pursue other things. So it is not that technology is bad per se, but we do need wisdom.

When we come to talk about digital technology, as has come about in the past twenty years or so, we are talking about technology that gives us the illusion of being our own gods. We can be anywhere we want and totally not present where our body actually is. We have access to unlimited knowledge by pulling out our devices and asking Google or our AI app. We can have connections with people all over the world and yet be connected to no one.

This Sunday, we are talking about how our digital technology has a tremendous capacity to make us less human, not more human. It is not just Christians writing about this; most of the things I read about concerning the exponential rise in loneliness, suicide, anxiety, and fear are from folk who are not of the Christian persuasion. Yes, we were built by God for glory—human beings are actually a reflection of his glory—but when we try to grasp at glory through the illusion of technology, as we will see, the wheels fall off.

That, or something like that, is what we will talk about this week at St. Patrick. Hope to see you there!