{"id":19217,"date":"2018-10-11T18:46:58","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T01:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=19217"},"modified":"2018-10-11T18:51:44","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T01:51:44","slug":"intentional-boredom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/intentional-boredom\/","title":{"rendered":"Intentional Boredom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSuperficiality is the curse of our age<\/em>.\u201d[1]<\/a>So begins Richard Foster\u2019s classic text \u2018Celebration of Discipline.\u2019 It\u2019s laughable when one considers that he wrote that text in the mid 1970s when\"\" telephones were still attached to the wall, \u2018The Waltons\u2019 and \u2018All in the Family\u2019 were the most popular shows on television, baseball was the #1 sport in the US, people took the time to read the newspaper and endure commercials while watching the evening news\u2026\u2026all signs that life actually was a little bit slower.<\/p>\n

While it is not uncommon to look back at previous generations wistfully, imagining a simpler time and slower pace of life, it does appear that we are on the precipice of a disaster; a technological experiment leading to potential catastrophic social upheaval. The predictions of Neil Postman highlighted by Cal Newport have come to fruition. \u201cSociety [has slid] into a troubling relationship with technology<\/em>.\u201d[2]<\/a>While Newport\u2019s book \u2018Deep Work\u2019, suggests that the shallowness of our present age is an opportunity for those willing to disconnect and retrain their brain to focus intently, it also heralds the inevitability that \u201cdepth will become increasingly rare.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

I was a late subscriber to the \u2018smartphone\u2019 pandemic. I have had a smart phone for less than 12 months and was \u2018forced\u2019 into it after a crisis where a parent was trying to reach me via text during an \"\"attempted suicide by her son. Since that time, I have noticed an incredible amount of addiction and distraction with this so-called tool on my person all day long. I would not say that it has brought me great benefit. In fact, even as I write this it continues to vibrate with the latest text message or Instagram update, begging for my attention, preventing the focus necessary to write eruditely. Yet, I find myself now unable to separate myself from it, captivated by the instant gratification it offers and the visual stimuli it pedals. Why is this a problem? Because as Newport suggests; If you \u201cspend enough time in a state of frenetic shallowness you permanently<\/strong>reduce your capacity to perform deep work<\/em>.\u201d[4]<\/a>While Newport\u2019s main concern is productivity and the observable reduction in meaningful intellectual and economic output I believe he raises an important consideration for the Church.<\/p>\n

The Church has little to offer those who are enamored with shallowness. To use Eugene Peterson\u2019s words, spirituality requires a \u2018Long obedience in the same direction<\/em>\u2019.[5]<\/a>Quiet, solitude, stillness, meditation etc., these are the basis for spiritual maturity. We do a disservice to those desiring something meaningful when we tacitly endorse the culture by seeking to make Christianity more palatable to easily distracted constituents. This is akin to what Thomas Bergler has labelled the \u2018Juvenilization of American Christianity\u2019.[6]<\/a>A dilution of traditional orthodoxy and orthopraxis in favor of entertainment and feel good quasi-theology. This is the antithesis of what Newport suggests is necessary for depth, developing a level of comfort with boredom.[7]<\/a>What we can do is encourage depth with those who are prepared for it while praying for a crisis that will demonstrate the emptiness of the predominant shallow focus in the lives of those who are not yet ready to hear.<\/p>\n

Further, I am convinced that even those of us in ministry are; \u201ctending toward increasingly visible signs of busyness because [we] lack a better way to demonstrate [our] value<\/em>.\u201d[8]<\/a>There is a tension for those in ministry; surrounded by people in the corporate scene who are stressed and hyper active, ministers feel the need to demonstrate that they too experience the stresses of our modern world in order to be approved by their congregants. Would it not be better to be an example of another way, an alternative to the hectic, consumeristic tendencies in our culture? Yet, there is a fear that ministers will be dismissed as lacking understanding of the \u2018real world\u2019 pressures, written off as one who has their head in the clouds. However, by adopting the main tenets of the surrounding shallow culture they fail to demonstrate an alternative to those that might desire something deeper.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Church Small Group<\/p><\/div>\n

Maybe this is why I fell in love with fly-fishing and cycling and felt the need to instruct my children in these pursuits. The four-count rhythm of the rod and the line necessitates a patience and a calmness that can\u2019t be rushed, the steady turning of the pedals requires a consistency and endurance much chagrined in the present age. Sometimes I even find myself getting bored in the midst of them and that is not a bad thing. I do not know if these will foster a stronger inclination to go deep in the faith of my children. I pray that they do. It does place them in a context where quiet, solitude, stillness, and meditation are in order and the still, small voice of God may at last be recognized. Perhaps we should have church by the river or on a bike where \u2018technopoly\u2019 has a weaker grip and intentional boredom has the opportunity to set in.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>Foster, Richard J.\u00a0Celebration of Discipline: the Path to Spiritual Growth<\/em>. HarperSanFrancisco, 1988. P. 1<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>Newport, Cal.\u00a0Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World<\/em>. Grand Central Publishing, 2016. P. 67<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>Ibid p. 71<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>Ibid p. 7<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>Peterson, Eugene H.\u00a0A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society<\/em>. IVP Books, 2000.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>Bergler, Thomas E.\u00a0The Juvenilization of American Christianity<\/em>. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Compay, 2012.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>Newport, Cal.\u00a0Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World<\/em>. Grand Central Publishing, 2016. P. 17<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a>Ibid p. 64<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSuperficiality is the curse of our age.\u201d[1]So begins Richard Foster\u2019s classic text \u2018Celebration of Discipline.\u2019 It\u2019s laughable when one considers that he wrote that text in the mid 1970s when telephones were still attached to the wall, \u2018The Waltons\u2019 and \u2018All in the Family\u2019 were the most popular shows on television, baseball was the #1 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[956,951,120],"class_list":["post-19217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-deep-work","tag-newport","tag-spirituality","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19233,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19217\/revisions\/19233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}