What shoddy internet can teach us about multitasking

     I've been spoiled for the past several years by lightning-fast internet whenever I wanted it. Even in my parents' basement, (I am a true millennial, after all), service was somewhat spotty, but overall reliable and I was usually able to do whatever I needed or wanted to do on the internet, whenever I wanted to do it. 

    And then we moved to the boonies. No more lightning-fast internet. No mas. Now are internet needs are served by cellular hotspots eeking out a surfable speed from one MAYBE two bars of service. 

    It's usable, certainly, but I had to learn to go back to the days of dial-up internet (told you I was a millennial), when you could only do ONE thing on the internet at a time. You couldn't even be on the phone! pictures took forever to load, and playing music was nigh impossible. 

    This situation is an improvement, but I still had to train myself to remember that no, I actually *don't* need to be playing music while I write, surf the internet, or meal plan. Because I usually can't. I even had to relearn how to surf with only ONE tab open. (The biggest adjustment from our move to Staffordshire, I won't even lie.)

    This new style has had a refreshing effect, however. When I do write, (which isn't often with a toddler, but I digress) I am much more focused, and surprise, it actually takes me less time to write something because all of my attention is actually on the blog post, or article, and not on youtube finding the perfect song, or on Facebook looking at pictures of what my friends are up to, or making a list for Walmart pick up. I'm just writing. Just me and words. It's marvelous, restful. Still. 

    A few different times in my life I've suspected I have acquired ADHD from head trauma, so it's already hard for me to focus on just one thing for very long. But I work so much better that way. Being forced to be single-minded has been great for my writing and administrative life, because I'm forced to get a task done, rather than hunt and peck for the keys in between glances up at the TV. 

    It's gotten me thinking though, how many of us treat Prayer and Bible Reading like we do the internet? Audio Bibles and sermons have their place, and if you're truly unable to sit down and read and glean something from it, they are a valuable tool. I relied on audio bibles quite heavily while I was concussed, I'm not discounting their value. 

    However, I think there's a danger in accepting this kind of half-done spiritual discipline in the everyday life of a Christ-follower.  Proverbs 4:1 cautions the reader to pay attention to instruction and gain understanding from it. I hesitate to extrapolate too much from this verse, but throughout Proverbs the theme seems to be focusing on wisdom and understanding, fearing the Lord, and casting away sin. 

    On the other side of the coin, there's a rather large movement in the church which seems to be putting far too much importance on hours at a time of reading and studying, and of course that's the ideal, it would be lovely to do that, however if you are simply doing it to 'feel holier' or to post it on social media...it may not be having the desired affect. 

    I have to believe there is something in the middle that is God-honoring, as long as we are placing the spiritual disciplines in their proper place of priority. This means that not all of your Bible 'reading' is an audio bible while you do the laundry, or care for your kids, or wash the dog, or do anything else. There's nothing wrong with this, and it does have some value. But what I found about multitasking while playing the audio Bible is I would start a new chapter and have no idea what the previous chapter contained. Scripture had become background music for me, not the main event I made time for. 

    Again, I have a toddler. Gone are the days when focused reading could happen any time throughout the day. But because it's important to me, I'm working on finding a system that works, even a few verses at a time throughout the day, as long as it's the only thing I'm working on. 

    God's word deserves my full attention.