Craig Daily Press

Craig — I was watching a movie last weekend and a line really caught my attention.

The two main characters, a man and a woman, took a helicopter from his house to the airport and boarded his private jet. He remarked that the helicopter flight had saved them 30 minutes.

A little while later, during the flight, the man expressed that he was entirely too busy to do something the woman asked him to do. Her response is what caught my attention, she said, “Where did the 30 minutes you saved go?”

I found myself asking the same question about my own life, with all of the wonderful technological advancements that I benefit from, and all the time I am supposedly saving, where is all this time?

It would be nice if I could say that I saved so much time last month that I am going to take two extra days off this month just to relax and pray, but alas, I tend to be busy almost every moment of every day.

I have to fight to get some down time. From a neutral perspective, all of this must seem insane. We believe that we are saving time, but in actuality, we are merely stuffing more things into the same amount of time. In the end, yes, we have accomplished more, but to what end. Is this life about getting more done?

As I was reading a recent letter from the pope, I came across a statement that illuminates this problem.

He says, “If technical progress is not matched by corresponding progress in man’s ethical formation, in man’s inner growth, then it is not progress at all, but a threat for man and for the world.” (Spe Salvi #22)

Technical progress, i.e., everything from microwave ovens, to prescription drugs, to the Internet, has not been matched by growth in virtue, but rather, in vice.

TV dinners, oral contraceptives and pornography are the leading products that drive these so-called instruments of progress, but none of these are authentic.

On the contrary, they are counterfeit.

When that which is fake gains more value than that which is genuine, the world becomes the fool’s paradise.

You don’t have to be able to set up an e-mail account in order to get into heaven. Nonetheless, technological literacy seems to be more important than spiritual proficiency.

All of this would appear quite silly to a medieval monk. In the 13th century, the monastery was the center of technological growth, but also of prayer. The monks achieved amazing progress in farming techniques, craftsmanship and brewing, all the while being subject to the tolling of the bell, which signaled a call to prayer, the true master of their day.

Who or what is the true master of your day?

Whatever is at the top of your pyramid is what will determine the size and shape of everything else?

Maximum efficiency matched by maximum pleasure has risen to the top and deformed the rest. The Christian’s task is to overthrow these imposters by means of virtue. The pope comments that, “every generation has the task of engaging anew in the arduous search for the right way to order human affairs.” (Spe Salvi #25)