“Technology has given us instant communication, unrivaled convenience, and most precious of all, longer lives with less drudgery. At the same time, technology has isolated us from each other, sowed political division, fueled inequality, spread pervasive pessimism, widened generational gaps, stolen our attention and is the primary culprit for a mental health crisis among teens. This is the challenge for all generations in the decade to come: to find a way for technology to bring us together instead of driving us apart.”  – Jean Twenge, Generations

Join a group of fellow pilgrims for a day retreat as we seek to cultivate the sacred fire of our faith amidst the fiery furnace of our hyper busy, digitally distracted lives, through a collective digital sabbath. Our day will begin with a simple spiritual practice followed by conversation around a fellowship meal all together before moving into a time of solitude for prayer and reflection (or simply a well deserved nap). Guidebooks will be available for those who would welcome more guidance. Register here.

It seems every generation has its own fiery furnace. That is, some threat for refusing to give your fealty and attention (i.e. worship) to the idolatry of the day. In ancient Babylon, for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the empire demanded that they bow down to a ninety foot statue made of gold.

It is difficult for those of us shaped by a materialist, post Enlightenment world to grasp the significance of idol worship in ancient Babylon. In ways that reflect our own cultural context more than the ancient Babylonians, many of us assume that such decrees were only about coercive political power. What we fail to recognize is that for the ancients, the worship of idols was about magical powers. 

Andy Crouch in his recent book, The Life We Are Looking For, makes the case that the thing that connects ancient technologies, such as giant statues made of gold, to modern technologies, such as smartphones, is that they both offer us an exchange built on a faulty promise. We give them our attention (our “heart, mind, soul and strength”) and they will give us magical powers.

When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad in 2010 it was as a “magical and revolutionary technology.” We now know that Mr. Jobs was offering us the same exchange that Nebuchadnezzar offered the Hebrew youth in the book of Daniel: “Give us four to eight hours of your attention per day, and in exchange we will give you the magical power of communication, information and entertainment that transcends time and space.” Anywhere, all the time.

Perhaps this all seems a bit melodramatic. After all it is not as though, when it comes to technology use, that anyone is threatening us with a fiery furnace. Right?

Five of the last six U.S. Surgeon General’s nation-wide advisories have targeted the social isolation, parental exhaustion, and mental health crises connected to the “loneliness epidemic” affecting people of all ages in America. An epidemic that social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues powerfully in his book, The Anxious Generation, clearly coincides with the advent of the smart phone. And in case you doubt the tangible consequences of this modern day social crisis, simply take a moment to reflect on the fact that according to the Center for Disease Control suicide is now the second leading cause of death among teens, having increased by 52% between 2000 and 2022.

If we take that seriously, it seems clear that the threat of the fiery furnace remains today.

What is the role of spiritual formation in the digital age?

In the hearts of the Hebrew youth, being threatened by the fiery furnace of their day, there was another kind of flame. After all, the faith of ancient Israel was forged in fire. The same fire that drew Moses to take off his sandals, that formed a pillar to repel Pharaoh’s army during the exodus, that consumed both sacrifice and altar before the prophets of Baal, that same fire was present in the perpetual flame that burned in the Temple. Nebuchadnezzar, having destroyed that Temple, assumed he had extinguished the sacred fire of Israel. It was the faith Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had in the sacred fire of YHVH’s presence that gave them the courage to overcome their fear of the fiery furnace.

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king” (Daniel 3:16-17).

The story of the fiery furnace in the book of Daniel comes to us as a promise, in narrative form, that so long as the sacred fire burns within the temple of each generation’s heart, God is present.

King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods” (Daniel 3:25).

While the fiery furnace of each generation looks different, the fire that sustains them is always the same. It was given to us all at Pentecost (Acts 2:3-4), and it is promised to be with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). We hope Coracle can come alongside you on your journey as you continue to shepherd the sacred fire in your own life.