little children, guard yourself from idols.
1 John 5:21
Content my soul in you O Christ,
who alone are sufficient to my longings.
When my heart is beset by wheedling desire for what it does not have, remind me, sweet Jesus, that I have no right to a thing, simply because it exists.
The perpetual allure of new innovation does not negate the call to faithfully steward those resources you have temporarily entrusted to my keeping.
Guard my heart therefore against idols of silicon and circuitry enticing with slick-veneered promises of
a more sophisticated and upgraded lifestyle.
Content my soul in you, O Christ, who alone are sufficient to my longings.
In such moments of technological temptation, when I might justify to myself the reasonableness of a costly purchase, speak louder, O Lord, than the voice of my self-serving thoughts.
If there is no real need for, or true wisdom in, the purchase of a new technology, service, or application, then let me be content with fewer options,
slower speeds,
smaller memory,
less diversion,
less gadgetry.
Let me be content, O Lord, with what I truly need to accomplish the necessary tasks before me.
Nay, let me be content with nothing but thee.
O Christ who alone art sufficient to my longings, I would be your trusted servant, at liberty to employ and to enjoy all things at my disposal, without being owned by any of them—using technologies to further good ends, while never seeking them as ends in themselves.
For it is not the advance of digital platforms that will usher in your kingdom, but the work of your Spirit in the world, and in the hearts and lives of your people.
Content my soul therefore in you, O Christ, who alone are sufficient to my longings.
Amen.
— taken from Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1, Douglas Kaine McKelvey, A Liturgy For Those Who Covet The Latest Technology, 163-4
Amen!
Quite convicting, isn’t it? Thank you for taking the time to read and add your amen, my friend!