February 2025 – Paul's Blog

Too Expensive

Even if we were given a smartphone for free, it may still be the most expensive thing we own.

Our most precious resources are our time and attention. Smartphones manipulate these two resources in ways that we do not see or even realize.

“Here are all the things to buy,” says the phone, “that will never satisfy. Here is all the curated outrage and anxiety… and here is unlimited access to work (even compelling work!) at all hours at the day or night.”

Unless we take measures to stop it, these things will distract us so thoroughly that we no longer know what we want to want.

Wanting What We Want to Want

What, in our lives, do we want to want?

Do we want those things / that life now and consistently?

If not, what is keeping us from wanting what we want to want?

What is the 15% we can choose today to move toward that desired life?

Don’t Erase Mine!

Last week at Sunday School, as our son’s class prepared for First Reconciliation, the instructors invited the students into a simple and illustrative activity.

There was a big heart drawn on the board, and the students were invited to fill it with habits and attachments that are not of God.

The point was to show that the sacrament clears our hearts of these things, so that in our hearts might grow the fruits of the Spirit.

When the instructor started erasing the words and narrating the metaphor, one rather exuberant young colleague jumped up and yelled, in full seriousness: “Don’t erase mine!!”

This is, of course, hilarious and the perfect reaction to illustrate why we need to be invited to the sacrament. We want this freedom from sin… buuuut maybe not yet.

Let’s pray for the grace to act with the Spirit now and not later.