Short attention span ...

The quantity of information we face in any given day is just too much, almost a technological curse.  I can, therefore obviously I should glance at a dozen web articles, even if I'll forget the first before I finish the second.

I'm compelled.  A thousand times a day, important things cross my view, info-noise which doesn't stick, but it does certainly dilute my attention.

I used to read books when I was younger. Big books, college library stuff, that took weeks to get through, and if they were really thought provoking, I'd read chapters more than once.  They informed me, shaped my thinking, required me to struggle with implications and to make decisions.

Today, if I'm not careful, I'll cover that much ground in an hour, and little if anything will remain after the high-speed fly-by.  Such a flood of knowledge without thoughtful consideration is trivia and without benefit.  It isn't even knowledge, really; more like entertainment, passing the time.

Today, a person is subjected to more new information in a day than a person in the middle ages in his entire life.  Unbelievable.

Fortunately, I have thoughtful friends who give me good books that, once begun, I have to finish. One or two every year or so; it's enough to remind me that thinking is required; and decisions.  It's a bit of a delicate balance, isn't it.  We're having to learn to manage our goals and priorities while living on the flood plain.

Is there a central focus in our lives?
   Is there that which provokes us, empassions us?
       Can we selectively channel this incredible information pipeline so that we move forward?

What are we going to do with what we know?     It's quite an invitation to adventure when you think about it.

Tell the rich folks to quit being so full of themselves and so impressed with their own possessions, which are here today and gone tomorrow. It's not their merit that made them wealthy and others less so. Tell them to go after God who is generous to us all - and tell them to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasure that will last, gaining life that is truly life.


1 Timothy 6:17-19