Describing the digital environment as "actively hostile" is a great way to put it. I am more than ready to give up my iPhone when it finally breaks down. I'm worried about losing certain crutches like navigation and music streaming, but the benefits far exceed the losses. I'll just have to actually use my brain to navigate and go back to listening to CD's in the car again! Haha. Excited for the challenge! Thanks for writing this; it makes me feel like it's actually possible to live an extraordinary personal life while simply appearing ordinary on the outside.
This is great and right up my alley! I've been researching Dietrich Bonhoeffer's idea of the "new monasticism" — living monkishly while in the world — and also thinking about a potential fireside about the "heroic pose" — what would it mean to approach life from a heroic stance? I appreciate the ideas you've laid out; I do very much think we now need heroic virtue to be normal. And I appreciate you introducing me to the idea of heroic virtue in Catholicism. Very cool.
As an eastern Catholic, we adhere to this concept of Theosis by which we become conformed to Christ and become / are called to become holy. There is not a concept such as kinda holy but we are instead called to actual holiness albeit recognizing we have different stations and stages of life where this takes different forms. I think perhaps the difference today between virtue and heroic virtue is that the “ordinary” is now so counter-cultural that it feels heroic … and probably is! I also have to mention The Anxious Generation by Haidt as I think it is quite relevant to understanding the fairly insidious impact of smart phones and social media on the development of children.
I’ve been contemplating “liturgy” if you can call what my non-Catholic brain thinks of it, a lot. I split my music up into seasons, I only listen to certain music during certain seasons. Looking for liturgy, rhythms, seasons to embrace and love is something to work on more.
I’d argue too that the digital sphere has seasons and rhythms too. They’re just completely disassociated from meaning and aren’t oriented toward the good. And they’re rapid, 15 seconds perhaps?
Describing the digital environment as "actively hostile" is a great way to put it. I am more than ready to give up my iPhone when it finally breaks down. I'm worried about losing certain crutches like navigation and music streaming, but the benefits far exceed the losses. I'll just have to actually use my brain to navigate and go back to listening to CD's in the car again! Haha. Excited for the challenge! Thanks for writing this; it makes me feel like it's actually possible to live an extraordinary personal life while simply appearing ordinary on the outside.
This is great and right up my alley! I've been researching Dietrich Bonhoeffer's idea of the "new monasticism" — living monkishly while in the world — and also thinking about a potential fireside about the "heroic pose" — what would it mean to approach life from a heroic stance? I appreciate the ideas you've laid out; I do very much think we now need heroic virtue to be normal. And I appreciate you introducing me to the idea of heroic virtue in Catholicism. Very cool.
Very good piece. As Christians we need to be "all in" in our day to survive.
As an eastern Catholic, we adhere to this concept of Theosis by which we become conformed to Christ and become / are called to become holy. There is not a concept such as kinda holy but we are instead called to actual holiness albeit recognizing we have different stations and stages of life where this takes different forms. I think perhaps the difference today between virtue and heroic virtue is that the “ordinary” is now so counter-cultural that it feels heroic … and probably is! I also have to mention The Anxious Generation by Haidt as I think it is quite relevant to understanding the fairly insidious impact of smart phones and social media on the development of children.
I’ve been contemplating “liturgy” if you can call what my non-Catholic brain thinks of it, a lot. I split my music up into seasons, I only listen to certain music during certain seasons. Looking for liturgy, rhythms, seasons to embrace and love is something to work on more.
I’d argue too that the digital sphere has seasons and rhythms too. They’re just completely disassociated from meaning and aren’t oriented toward the good. And they’re rapid, 15 seconds perhaps?
Great thoughts, thanks Karl!!
Great read.