I'm dependent on technology like most 21st century human beings. More and more I need to be "connected" in order to communicate with family, teach seminary, minister to my community, and write as I'm called to do.

The 24/7 internet connection means we're never really free and we always feel behind. The Internet also continually entices us to explore its options through hyperlinks and ads so we can spend a lot of time on things for which we have little to show, adding to our unrest.

Neural science, which is the study of the brain, tells us that we have up to one billion brain cells with thousands of branches that communicate with each other much like a complex highway system. The more we attend to something, or the more we engage in certain behaviors, the more those particular cells communicate and the pathways between them deepen. This is how our values, our beliefs, and our motivations are actually formed.

Most people find it extremely difficult - if not impossible - to focus in prayer.

I'm frustrated with the fact that it's harder to remember things now because I can so easily find them on the Web. I hate the way I have to work at reading; a pastime that once brought nothing but relaxation and joy. I hate the Internet's addictive qualities, as I watch my own grandchildren - whose brains are still being developed - want to be on devices so much. I hate what technology bodes for our culture, but even more for the body of Christ.

If you've managed to remain a Luddite - one who resists technology - you're surrounded by people who don't, so you're affected more than you may realize.

We don't have to be victims of the spiritual fall-out of the digital age. It does take some serious intentionality to combat the cultural compulsion for connection that surrounds us, but it's worth it.