Technology, Lent, and the Good

In a recent post or two, I offered some caution about our use of technology in the U.S.

I still believe that we often use our techie toys to distract ourselves from hearing God's voice (and sometimes the internal voices of our need for God). For that reason, as Ash Wednesday--and thus Lent-- approach, I encourage the silencing of TV, cell phones, video games, iPods, and/or email for at least an hour/day and an entire day/week.

Nonetheless, I just spent the weekend with some entirely creative and intelligent grad students from U.C. Berkeley and Stanford who are using technology to serve developing nations: helping facilitate better polling, the discovery of clean water, and the dissemination of critical information critical. I want then to counterpoint my earlier concerns about technology with a plea that we, as a highly technological nation, use our expertise to bless others, especially to help them attain basic services that can truly be the difference between life and death.

Is there some redemption to be found in microchips, videocams, and SMS? I think so. And that's definitely good news.