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 reality is that most of us are rarely, if ever, alone with our own minds and souls. Even when we do find a few minutes of quiet, we're driven to check our devices for emails, texts, etc.

If we can't even spend a short amount of time each day with God in solitude, our spiritual formation will be seriously stunted.

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.

The monumental digital shift has taken place so fast, we haven't really had time or invested the energy to evaluate what this is doing to our culture, or how it's impacting us as individuals - physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

Most people would say they live with an internal angst that they can't always put their finger on. This is because the Internet has changed our very way of being in this world, compelling us to be perpetually "on" - from our cars to our computers, our tablets to our smartphones, our desks to our living rooms or dining tables, our churches to our libraries to our schools.

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