(This was written while in prison)
Even in Triad it’s hard to focus on the computer screen… It’s wildly diferent from the west units, but they’re still all convicted felons. So it’s hard to just take your eyes off them. But maybe I could. I will miss petty things, though. But if you enforce the petty things, you get a unit like this. I think the therapists help, and the peer accountability is huge. They may pull one over on the CO, but the other offenders will see it and hold you accountable for your actions. That’s a difference-maker. So blogging. Is it just me, or is it dying? And if it isn’t just me, why is it dying? Why does it seem that if people want to communicate opinions, it is less and less in the form of a manifesto, letter to the editor, or blog. Oftentimes, it is summarized in a 140-character thought-byte, with a few hashtags to follow. Is that bad? Is that good? Is that of no effect? And if it is just me? Why is it dying in me? What has changed in me that has taken me from thinking more critically about nuanced ideas to coasting through life and finding intellectually dull activities to be some of the most pleasing ways to spend my time. Well let’s see… Marriage has changed in my life. A lot of things that I used to process by myself while I sipped on tea is now processed with my wife. However, more often than not, it’s not processed at all. I don’t intentionally suppress the things, but they just don’t spring up as much. Ooooh, there’s so much that contributes to this, it’s gonna be ridiculous. What I read (and don’t read) contributes to it. What I listen to contributes to it. What I expose my eyes to contributes to it. So to say that all of my deep thoughts are now processed with my wife is a cop out. I can tell that my thinking is more shallow. I haven’t been reading as many of those books where you set them down and just think about what you just read. Maybe I should re-read some of those same books. (The Pursuit of God, Crazy Love, Forgotten God) Back to 140-character thoughts. I don’t have a twitter account, so that’s not my problem, but I am a part of the culture that has warmly accepted twitter and attention-grabbing headlines and quick emails and faster arguments. If you can’t grab a listener in the first 7 seconds of a song, a reader in the first paragraphs of the book or sentences of the article, the watcher in the opening minutes of the video, you’ve lost them. Just watch me listen to Spotify or itunes radio or read USA Today and you’ll see that in action. For myself, I don’t like fragmented thoughts. It’s ineffective for deep study of any subject, but especially the immeasureable depths of God’s Word and wisdom. I don’t like that my mind no longer trends toward catching a thought in the web of my mind and examining the different sides of that thought or concept. It doesn’t. I could spend time considering how this unit of the prison runs so much differently from other units, but I just stare at my computer screen and hope there a co-worker on IM who I can type 140 character messages to. (Fortunately, I HAVE been considering the contributing factors of different unit cultures, and it has been like Febreze for my brain.)The practice of critical thought is so… critical… for lectio divina. Deep study of God’s Word. Not just rushing through it because you need to. Taking those 5 verses and literally ruminating over them. Repeating them, verbalizing them, pondering them. Rolling them around in my mind and in my heart. Pulling segments out that are precious. Praising God for His Word. I used to fight against mentally disengaged reading of the Bible. Just this typing, while it has been fragmented due to my typing in the midst of 76 felons, is a fight against 140-character thoughts. Although, because I probably won’t polish this up much at all, you’ll be able to see that my train of thought struggles to stay with one thing for very long. This will return with time, I trust. I think I will see the benefits of these practices in numerous areas of my life. And my family will benefit. And maybe I can train my daughter to sit still for more than 4.3 seconds! (That’s a generous estimation.)Lord, light these idle sticks of my mind, and let it ponder, wonder, and resolve for You. Consume my mind, my God, for it is thine.
Even in Triad it’s hard to focus on the computer screen… It’s wildly diferent from the west units, but they’re still all convicted felons. So it’s hard to just take your eyes off them. But maybe I could. I will miss petty things, though. But if you enforce the petty things, you get a unit like this. I think the therapists help, and the peer accountability is huge. They may pull one over on the CO, but the other offenders will see it and hold you accountable for your actions. That’s a difference-maker. So blogging. Is it just me, or is it dying? And if it isn’t just me, why is it dying? Why does it seem that if people want to communicate opinions, it is less and less in the form of a manifesto, letter to the editor, or blog. Oftentimes, it is summarized in a 140-character thought-byte, with a few hashtags to follow. Is that bad? Is that good? Is that of no effect? And if it is just me? Why is it dying in me? What has changed in me that has taken me from thinking more critically about nuanced ideas to coasting through life and finding intellectually dull activities to be some of the most pleasing ways to spend my time. Well let’s see… Marriage has changed in my life. A lot of things that I used to process by myself while I sipped on tea is now processed with my wife. However, more often than not, it’s not processed at all. I don’t intentionally suppress the things, but they just don’t spring up as much. Ooooh, there’s so much that contributes to this, it’s gonna be ridiculous. What I read (and don’t read) contributes to it. What I listen to contributes to it. What I expose my eyes to contributes to it. So to say that all of my deep thoughts are now processed with my wife is a cop out. I can tell that my thinking is more shallow. I haven’t been reading as many of those books where you set them down and just think about what you just read. Maybe I should re-read some of those same books. (The Pursuit of God, Crazy Love, Forgotten God) Back to 140-character thoughts. I don’t have a twitter account, so that’s not my problem, but I am a part of the culture that has warmly accepted twitter and attention-grabbing headlines and quick emails and faster arguments. If you can’t grab a listener in the first 7 seconds of a song, a reader in the first paragraphs of the book or sentences of the article, the watcher in the opening minutes of the video, you’ve lost them. Just watch me listen to Spotify or itunes radio or read USA Today and you’ll see that in action. For myself, I don’t like fragmented thoughts. It’s ineffective for deep study of any subject, but especially the immeasureable depths of God’s Word and wisdom. I don’t like that my mind no longer trends toward catching a thought in the web of my mind and examining the different sides of that thought or concept. It doesn’t. I could spend time considering how this unit of the prison runs so much differently from other units, but I just stare at my computer screen and hope there a co-worker on IM who I can type 140 character messages to. (Fortunately, I HAVE been considering the contributing factors of different unit cultures, and it has been like Febreze for my brain.)The practice of critical thought is so… critical… for lectio divina. Deep study of God’s Word. Not just rushing through it because you need to. Taking those 5 verses and literally ruminating over them. Repeating them, verbalizing them, pondering them. Rolling them around in my mind and in my heart. Pulling segments out that are precious. Praising God for His Word. I used to fight against mentally disengaged reading of the Bible. Just this typing, while it has been fragmented due to my typing in the midst of 76 felons, is a fight against 140-character thoughts. Although, because I probably won’t polish this up much at all, you’ll be able to see that my train of thought struggles to stay with one thing for very long. This will return with time, I trust. I think I will see the benefits of these practices in numerous areas of my life. And my family will benefit. And maybe I can train my daughter to sit still for more than 4.3 seconds! (That’s a generous estimation.)Lord, light these idle sticks of my mind, and let it ponder, wonder, and resolve for You. Consume my mind, my God, for it is thine.
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