 Reclaiming Conversation--Week 6
"Studies show that the mere presence of a phone on the table (even a phone turned off) changes what people talk about. If we think we might be interrupted, we keep conversations light, on topics of little controversy or consequence. We find it hard to turn back to each other, even when efficiency or politeness would suggest we do just that. The mere presence of a phone signals that your attention is divided, even if you don’t intend it to be. It will limit the conversation in many ways: how you’ll listen, what will be discussed, the degree of connection you’ll feel. Rich conversations have difficulty competing with even a silent phone. When digital media encourage us to edit ourselves until we have said the “right thing,” we can lose sight of the important thing: Relationships deepen not because we necessarily say anything in particular but because we are invested enough to show up for another conversation. “Knowing that someone is not understanding you, not paying attention, makes it easy to lose trust. . . . If someone was on their phone and not really in the conversation, I don’t feel like I can trust them as much.” We decide to try a device-free class with a short break to check phones. Conversations become more relaxed and cohesive. Students finish their thoughts, unrushed. What the students tell me is that they feel relief: When they are not tempted by their phones, they feel more in control of their attention. An irony emerges. For of course, on one level, we all see our phones as instruments for giving us greater control, not less." (from Reclaiming Conversation, Sherry Turkle)
2 Timothy 4.1-8 When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. So with God and Christ as witnesses, I command you to preach God's message. Do it willingly, even if it isn't the popular thing to do. You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient. The time is coming when people won't listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear. They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories. But you must stay calm and be willing to suffer. You must work hard, telling the good news and to do your job well. Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power. “It is for us to pass on the most precious thing we know how to do: talking to the next generation about our experiences, our history; sharing what we think we did right and wrong.” How do we do that? How do we prioritize the people in front of us? As we finish this series today,
 WEEK 5--Reclaiming Conversation
"When we think we are multitasking, our brains are actually moving quickly from one thing to the next, and our performance degrades for each new task we add to the mix. Multitasking gives us a neurochemical high so we think we are doing better and better when actually we are doing worse and worse. We’ve seen that not only do multitaskers have trouble deciding how to organize their time, but over time, they “forget” how to read human emotions. Students—for example, my students—think that texting during class does not interrupt their understanding of class conversation, but they are wrong. The myth of multitasking is just that: a myth. The multitasking life puts us into a state similar to vigilance, one of continual alert. In that condition, we can follow only the most rudimentary arguments. So multitasking encourages brevity and simplicity, even when more is called for. And the harm that multitasking does is contagious. When you have your phone, maybe it’s not just the people in front of you who lose priority. Does the world in front of you lose priority? Does the place you are in lose priority? Your phone reminds you, all the time, that you could be in so many different places. That is what Kati and her friends are living. Wherever she and her friends are, they strategize about where they could be. With so much choice, says Kati, it becomes harder to choose, because “you’re afraid you won’t make the right choice.” And nothing seems like the right choice. Jasper warns his friends about the downside of infinite choice: They are all paying less attention to where they are and the people they are with. “People forget . . . that sitting here right now might be the best thing that you can get. That might be the best you have.” Jasper’s comment is followed by a long silence in the group of young men. Finally, Oliver breaks the silence: “What if you’re always looking for something better and then you die? You’ve searched all the way until you’re dead. And you’ve never said, ‘Maybe I’ve found it.’” (From Reclaiming Conversation, Sherry Turkle)
Psalm 19.1-4 Heaven is declaring God’s glory; the sky is proclaiming his handiwork. One day gushes the news to the next, and one night informs another what needs to be known. Of course, there’s no speech, no words-- their voices can’t be heard-- but their sound extends throughout the world; their words reach the ends of the earth. Ecclesiastes 3.11 God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in human hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end. Romans 1.19-23 What is known about God should be plain to people because God made it plain to them. Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made. So humans are without excuse. Although they knew God, they didn’t honor or thank God as God. Instead, their reasoning became pointless, and their foolish hearts were darkened. While they were claiming to be wise, they made fools of themselves. They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that look like mortal humans: birds, animals, and reptiles.
Creating an Image—What have we gained or lost when all our interactions are on multiple platforms?9/1/2024
 Reclaiming Conversation--Week 4
“In order to feel more, and to feel more like ourselves, we connect. But in our rush to connect, we flee solitude. In time, our ability to be separate and gather ourselves is diminished. If we don’t know who we are when we are alone, we turn to other people to support our sense of self. This makes it impossible to fully experience others as who they are. We take what we need from them in bits and pieces; it is as though we use them as spare parts to support our fragile selves. If you don’t have practice in thinking alone, you are less able to bring your ideas to the table with confidence and authority. Collaboration suffers. As does innovation. It is only when we are alone with our thoughts—not reacting to external stimuli—that we engage that part of the brain’s basic infrastructure devoted to building up a sense of our stable autobiographical past. This is the “default mode network.” So, without solitude, we can’t construct a stable sense of self. Yet children who grow up digital have always had something external to respond to. When they go online, their minds are not wandering but rather are captured and divided. These days, we may mistake time on the net for solitude. It isn’t. In fact, solitude is challenged by our habit of turning to our screens rather than inward. And it is challenged by our culture of continual sharing. Afraid of being alone, we struggle to pay attention to ourselves. And what suffers is our ability to pay attention to each other. If we can’t find our own center, we lose confidence in what we have to offer others. What these (digital) friendships do best is support a self that needs to use other people as a mirror, a self that has not found itself. (From Reclaiming Conversation, Sherry Turkle)
Who we are in Christ: Genesis 1:27 So God created humans in God’s own image. Psalm 139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Ephesians 5:8 At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Matthew 5:14 We are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Ephesians 2:22 In Christ you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19 We are no longer strangers and aliens, but we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for servants do not know what their master is doing; but I have called you friends. Galatians 4:7 So we are no longer slaves, but children, and if children, then heirs through God. Romans 8:1 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Ephesians 2:10 We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are ambassadors for Christ, God making an appeal through us. Romans 8:37 In all these things we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. Philippians 1:6 I am sure of this, that the God who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:9-10 We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of a God who called us out of darkness into marvelous light. Once we were not a people, but now we are God’s people; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.
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