How Do We Use Technology? — Thomas Merton

There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with TV, it’s just a matter of how it’s used. — The Springs of Contemplation: A Retreat At the Abbey of Gethsemani, p. 19 (ebook)

The above words come from the transcript of a retreat that Thomas Merton offered to a small group of Prioresses in 1967. In this engaging retreat, they encountered Merton’s insights as well as his humour and lighthearted nature. In this particular chapter, Merton and his guests were having a discussion about the presence of television and newspapers in their respective communities. TV and newspapers? When I shared this quote with Denise, she shook her head and said, “He had no clue…”. I wonder what he would say about “reality television” (an oxymoron in my opinion) and 24-hour “news” (I use that term loosely)? I imagine that we would have a rather animated discussion as we sat on the front porch of his hermitage.

Growing up I remember having the three major channels (ABC, NBC, and CBS) along with PBS if you could get the rabbit ears positioned just right. You had the six o’clock and ten o’clock national news and local news (30 minutes each). In 1980 Ted Turner revolutionised television when he created the Turner Broadcasting Network with 24-hour news.

Ten years later, as the US and their allies built up military forces in Kuwait and prepared for Operation Desert Storm, the networks went into high gear. Of course, 24-hours is a lot of time to “fill” and so reports would be repeated over and over and over again with all of the armchair quarterbacks “sharing their speculations” in order to fill time.

I believe that Merton was right … in 1967! Today between the internet, television, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry talking non-stop and sharing their opinions with the world, it is too much. I find myself being quickly overwhelmed and frustrated by the “abundance” of opinions and the false narrative of “reality TV.” I find myself having to pull back and put down my electronic devices to find some sort of peace.

I find myself wondering what my friend Tom would say about this situation. A few weeks ago we got to spend some time at the Abbey where he was a monk and actually sat on the porch of his hermitage and spent time with one of his former novices, Brother Paul. There wasn’t a TV in the hermitage, in fact there wasn’t even an AM/FM radio!

I can see him shaking his head and wondering what the heck have we done as a society. How can you possibly seek out and find moments for silent contemplation in the midst of this human-constructed chaotic echo chamber?

I don’t know what the answer is… but I will continue to try and limit my intake of “news” while trying to be still in the silence as I listen and pray. In September Denise and I will be spending eleven days hiking along the Camino de Santiago from Sarria to Santiago. It won’t be about how many kilometres we can hike but rather about walking the pilgrim’s path and experiencing God’s creation and peace. Technology will be turned off (hello airplane mode my old friend) and with our cameras, we will be exploring much like we used to in the Rocky Mountain National Park when we lived there. And perhaps I might run into Merton on the trail, in the silence.