So I’ve been thinking about an Internet-related Lenten practice. I’m apparently not the only one—several friends are giving up Facebook for Lent. I wish them well but don’t feel called to that, personally. As Bruce Reyes Chow said last year (paraphrasing), I do a lot of pastoral care and authentive connecting with people via Facebook and other social media. So when pastors encourage me to give up Facebook for Lent, I say, “I’ll give it up for Lent when you give up the telephone.”

I’ve written here and on Facebook about various tools that allow you to control what sites you see and when. I’ve used Freedom for the Mac, which shuts down your wifi for an amount of time you set. That works for certain tasks—when I’m just needing to write a journal entry or a rough draft of something, for example—but for many things I need to consult something on the ‘net while I write.

Then there’s Leechblock, which you can use to block certain sites during certain times, or set a maximum number of minutes you can visit them in an hour or a day. This is good for those sites that suck you in unconsciously. (In that sense, I bet Internet addiction is a lot like other addictions—smokers who all of a sudden find themselves with a lit cigarette in hand. I don’t even remembering firing up the Huffington Post, yet here I am…)

There’s also Concentrate, which is a nifty program that is sort of a combination of the two.
In my research into these programs, I have read the comment more than once, “Geez people, don’t you have any self-control? Just don’t go to those sites! Just turn off the computer! Why do you need a special program?” Here’s how I respond: “Same reason people put a few cookies in a bowl or potato chips on a plate rather than eating them straight from the bag. Same reason people record the shows they want to watch rather than just sit down and channel-surf. Same reason I set the treadmill for 30 minutes rather than just walk on it until I get bored.”

As human beings we manage our appetites in all sorts of ways. Why not portion control with our internet use? Whether you walk away from the computer, or use a timer, or set up a block, it’s the same effect… or is that just a massive rationalization?

All that said, I am feeling once again like Bilbo, “stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” I get this way every so often. Having the Internet in your pocket means you never need to be silent or still. If you’re noodling over how to solve a problem, you can find something to read or a website to check instead of sitting with your thoughts, discomforting though they may be. This is a distracted and reactive way to live.

So my practice this Lent is simple and complicated at the same time. I already have my various Leechblocks in place—Facebook for just a minute or two an hour at most, a whole slew of sites for 15-20 minutes a day. That’s not new. The new thing for Lent is, no internet on the iPhone. What that means is no little 5 minute snatches of web-surfing. No obsessive checking of Facebook. These things have not taken over my life, but I’m a little too trigger-happy with it. I do have Kindle books on my iPhone so that’ll be my nicotine patch

A friend was recently talking about a conflict he was dealing with and the need to be non-anxious (so important in ministry). He mentioned how much better things went when he did not try to suppress his emotional response to the conflict, but instead approached it with curiosity.

I think this is an excellent posture to take with any Lenten practice, and mine is no exception. When the temptation arises, we should not berate ourselves or suppress what we feel, but just be curious about it. What is this urge really about? What in us is being neglected?

For those who observe the season of Lent, I wish you a blessed one.