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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Monday, March 8, 2004 And Then I Met a Man Who Fasted |
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FRONTLINE DEVOTION FOR
MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2004, by
Fritz Foltz
Bible Text:
Isaiah 58: 3-8
I once did three things at one time. For instance, I could read a book, watch
television, and talk with my wife at the same time, at least I thought I could.
It was a way to squeeze everything I wanted to do into a tight schedule.
There’s no way I can do that today. One thing at a time is the necessary rule. Pick the thing important to do at this moment and do it well. When I try to do
more, it all becomes noise. Quite frankly, I’m not sure it wasn’t always noise
with which I was willing to live.
That brings me to a modern form of fasting, techo-fasting. One of the hot topics
in Divinity School was how the Church would help people utilize the leisure time
afforded by the advances in technology. We expected things would follow the old
rule. Advances in education, religious activity, and charity came with the
leisure that accompanied prosperity.
What a laugh! Technology fills all the holes it creates. People become busier
than ever. Like most people’s, my life could have been described as harried.
Then I met a man who techno-fasted. One of my son’s friends and mentors was Ivan Illich, who would arrive for a six-month stay at Penn State with one suitcase.
He was known as a world-class analyst of contemporary society. Yet he did not
regularly watch television or read newspapers and magazines. Instead he was
always engaged in conversations with the people around him.
Many of those people around Illich advocated techno-fasting, turning down the
noise and connecting with real people and real events in our world. Most of us
are not going to live their radical life style, but we can regularly stop, turn
off the technology that everyone says we gotta have and upon which we have become so dependent. Only then can we ask perhaps the most important question of
the modern world, “How much is enough?”
Let us pray: Most merciful God, grant us peace in our hearts that we might come
to know peace in our families and in our world. Silence the noise in minds that
we might hear your voice and know what we are called to do. We pray in Jesus’
name. Amen.
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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