Due to the recent devotional on Valentine's Day, I have been considering my use of digital technology. I've been considering my usage time and my usage purposes. I feel that God has willingly allowed us to grow in our digital technologies exponentially. There is, however, opposition in all things. It is important to reflect on our own usage, and not just eliminate it completely. I know people have talked about this many times from our class, but it is a topic that takes personal realization to have any real impact. From what I have learned, my argument is similar to that of David A. Bednar's which is expressed in the video below: Digital technologies, like all of God's gifts, can be used resourcefully and abused wastefully, so we need to assess ourselves accordingly.
David A. Bednar. "Things as They Really Are." Mormon Messages.
From an LDS standpoint we often view the internet as a potential good technology because it can be used for family history/genealogy, and we view it as a potential bad technology because it can be used for the viewing of pornographic images. These potentials are both obvious and extreme in opposite directions. It is important for us to recognize everything in between.
The following link shows the most popular internet activities. If you view this table you will see that the vast majority of these activities can be done productively and appropriately. I have come to find that reflecting on and accordingly adjusting these various activities based on their real use can go a long way. On my last blog post alone I got distracted while researching and ended up checking Facebook twice and watching four completely unrelated YouTube videos. I knew this was a problem and that is part of the reason I am writing this.
I have had my Facebook account since the summer of 2008. I have been on it enough to know its potential for bluntly both good and evil. It really can be evil in that misuse of it will lead to wasted irreplaceable time. It leads to missed opportunities to do so many more important things in our limited mortal existence. It is a sin, most often of omission, but a sin nonetheless, to not take advantage of the gift of this earthly life that our Father in heaven has provided for each of us. That being said, there are also several great capabilities made easy through Facebook, and they are valuable enough to possibly prevent me from ever deleting my account. From keeping up with the colleges my high school friends get into, to seeing pictures of family members back home, to knowing about upcoming events, there is no doubt that we can utilize it appropriately. But too much of a good thing isn't always good anyway. The following infographic-style video hits on how widespread Facebook usage is. (Usually I don't include two videos in one post)
Today is the day that I put StayFocused on my Google Chrome browser. I am starting by limiting my time on Facebook to 10 minutes a day. It is will actually be hard for me on some days, but I know it is a good start. I have had friends who said it was very helpful, and it improved their productivity significantly. I would pass on their recommend to you for any site you could definitely use some limited time on.
I also want to illustrate that improvements of digital technology are gifts from God. With everything that God gives us comes the opportunity to use and abuse through agency. He gives us the ability to reproduce and people abuse that. He has allowed us to have cars, and people drive recklessly or avoid exercise. He has allowed us to have drugs for medical purposes, and people abuse them. All of his gifts to us can be abused, but that does not mean that we should not ever use them. Just think of all the capabilities that recent improvements in digital technology can have on spreading the gospel and improving the lives of saints. I think this is just as true as how God led the Reformation in order to make the world readier to accept the restored gospel. In Preach My Gospel it says,
“After centuries of spiritual darkness, truth-seeking men and women protested against the current religious practices. They recognized that many of the doctrines and ordinances of the gospel had been changed or lost. They sought for greater spiritual light, and many spoke of the need for a restoration of truth. They did not claim, however, that God had called them to be a prophet. Instead, they tried to reform teachings and practices that they believed had been changed or corrupted. Their efforts led to the organization of many Protestant churches. This Reformation resulted in an increased emphasis on religious freedom, which opened the way for the final Restoration.”
The Reformation was a medium in which the earth was prepared for the gospel, and improvements in digital technology are a medium in which the gospel is able to spread.
Just to clarify, I really enjoyed Elder Bednar's words on this topic that I shared at the beginning of this post, and if you get anything at all from this post, you should get it from him.
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