"All the celebrated technological acheivements of progress, do not redeem the twentieth century's moral poverty." --Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

"Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

How much do I feed myself with "junk messaging?" Filling up my mind and spirit with information, gorging on the latest, the biggest, the best. Eating information like it is candy. I would never give a kid tons or candy, because he'd just get sick. Do I practice moderation in my information eating? I don't think I do, or at least, I don't really think about my practices. Yes, I don't surf everywhere on the internet. I don't read everything. I don't look at porn sites. I don't hack into other people's servers or websites. But what about moderation, discernment, humility, community, friendship? Can I really have a friendship based solely on messaging and email? Can I learn and grow in my character from the internet?

I don't want to forget about the principle of seeking hard for a treasure. I don't want to get so used to having everything right there whenever I want it. I want to learn patience, perserverence and self-control. I don't want to lose that commitment to seeking and pursuing a goal until it is reached. I don't want to "google" my vision and call on my life and take the first five sites that I hit.

But I love the internet! I love technology. I love the connectedness I feel with people through instant messaging and email.

A Quandry. There's got to be a balance.