Freedom From Virtual Slavery

Small things can seem like very big things when we lose sight of what really matters. The daily struggle in most of our lives is not war or poverty, but rather the increasing demands of our video game consoles and social media accounts. We've increasingly become slaves to our own leisurely pursuits as we've silently let them become great sources of personal stress.

The author recounts the intimate and unsightly details of a personal addiction to video games, notes similar unhealthy patterns in excessive media and social media use, and concludes that our chronic boredom and technological irritability is symptomatic of a much deeper spiritual crisis. We are left restless and uneasy as we lose sight of our greatest source of purpose and satisfaction in God. When we forget God, we make idols for ourselves, but they always leave us dissatisfied. We could well say, with Saint Augustine, "What dangers threatened my soul when it rashly hoped that by abandoning God it would find something better!"