SEASON TWO - EPISODE 25: RECONNECT WITH ED CYZEWSKI

Is it possible to be less anxious?

Can social media be a tool we use rather than a tool that uses us?

How can prayer calm our minds and help us discover the Love of the Divine?

These are just some of the topics I address in this episode with Ed Cysewski.

Ed is a writer, editor, and author of multiple books. He blogs a lot on prayer and writing.

Two of his books we talk about in this episode are: Flee, Be Silent, Pray: Ancient Prayers for Anxious Christians and Reconnect: Spiritual Restoration from Digital Distraction. Both of these are great resources for those individuals who grew up in an evangelical world, are searching for spiritual practices that can enable them to encounter God, and for practical advice on how to disconnect from the distractions of our digital devices and discover spiritual renewal.

You can follow Ed on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Be sure to subscribe to Ed’s newsletter to receive free content. If you like this episode, be sure to SHARE it and REVIEW it on Apple Podcasts.

As you seek to reconnect with the Divine by protecting your time, maintaining one-on-one interactions, and finding silence in your day….may you have peace, may you have calm, may you have happiness.

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SEASON TWO - EPISODE NINE: DIGITAL DISCONNECT

If you’ve followed my blog, you know I’ve been writing a lot about social media, technology, and disconnecting from our digital devices for the last couple of years. This has included the following posts: Attentive to Advent, Not Social Media; A Break to Declutter; and the three-part series: A Digital Declutter: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3.

In this ninth episode of The Why Behind the What, I share how disconnecting from social media and technological devices is essential to our spiritual transformation.

The more I have used social media, the more I have questions the value of social media.

It is impacting my spiritual life? Is it a barrier to connecting with God and other people? Is my time spent on it actually worth it? Does it significantly add value to my life? Is it keeping me from being productive in any other area? Am I a better human because of it? Am I aware of how social media makes me feel while I am using it? Or am I caught in a trap of mindless scrolling and numbing liking and retweeting?

These are actually ancient questions. For centuries, people of all faiths have been asking whether modern life and technologies of their time enhance or inhibit their spiriutal life.

In this episode, I share my journey and relationship with social media and technology, gives some examples of what I’ve done to log off from social media in order to be with people, and why I think we must disconnect from our digital devices to connect with the Divine.

The thing is, if God speaks using a still small voice, if the Ultimate Creator is known through Creation and Creations, if to hear the Divine we must be silent or embrace solitude, if what we’ve been talking about this entire season are actually tools to open ourselves up to the Presence of the Divine, then we MUST rethink and change our relationship with technology.

If you’re interested in reading and learning more, I highly recommend the following: Digital Minimalism; iDisorder; The Distracted Mind; Reclaiming Conversation; Bored and Brilliant; Irresistible; The Shallows; 10 Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now; I Used to be a Human Being: An endless bombardment of news and gossip and images has rendered us manic information addicts. It broke me. It might break you, too; How to Break Up with Your Phone;

If you need a few new podcasts on this topic, I recommend: It’s Complicated; Note to Self; and Your Undivided Attention.

As you disconnect and become disentangled from social media and your phone, may you have peace, may you have calm, and may you have happiness.

SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN TO THE PODCAST ON APPLE PODCASTS, PODBEAN, SPOTIFY, STITCHER, OVERCAST, GOOGLE PLAY, PODCAST REPUBLIC, OR WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS.

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