Lent Like a Neo-Luddite

A number of years back, I stumbled across a book that, after the Bible, was, for me, the most life-changing volume I'd ever read. Entitled The Plain Reader: Essays on Making a Simple Life, it came about as a result of the Second Luddite Congress. Interestingly, there probably wasn't a true First Luddite Congress, as the original Luddites only met informally in small groups to plan their attacks against the mill owners. The Second Luddite Congress was a bit larger, drawing people from across the United States to a Quaker meetinghouse in Barnesville, Ohio in 1996. Organized by the Center for Plain Living, the attendees came from all walks of life, some from the metropolitan areas of the East Coast, some of them midwest farmers, some Amish, Friends (Quaker) and other Anabaptist groups. Some were ministers, some teachers, some ecologists. All were there to share their interest in what it means to live a simple or simpler life and to ask the tough questions about what place technology should or shouldn't have in their lives.

As far as I know, there were no technologically destructive incidents as a result of the Second Luddite Congress, at least no physically destructive ones, though some attendees attest to drastically changing their lives and lifestyles as a result of the Congress. What the gathering did produce was a wonderful collection of essays that were informative and thought-provoking and leaves the reader asking some of the same questions the original Luddites asked. These neo-Luddite essayists revisit the questions – Does allowing “this” into my life make my life better, “this” being a new gadget, a new technology, a new version of an old technology, perhaps even a new social construct, or whatever the powered looms of our day may look like? Do I gain something valuable and worthwhile? Do I lose something old but precious in allowing a new way of doing something into my life?

I highly recommend tracking down a copy of The Plain Reader and going through it. Not every essay is for everyone, though all are interesting and thought provoking. There are the expected essays in such a volume, those on sustainability and organic farming, living a simpler life in general and a few alarmist anti-technology, anti-computer selections. There are instructions on how to hand wash all your laundry (Thank you, but...no.) and what simple toys are best for children. Wendell Berry has an essay on what the medical industry says about how we view health. There are also several articles on unplugging the media. Despite the book being close to 30 years old, most of the essays are timeless and surprisingly still relevant.

One of my favorite essays, entitled “Mix and Match” does a good job of summing up the Luddite dilemma of discerning when to hold onto the old and when, perhaps, a venture into the new is more appropriate. Written by James Huskins, a businessman-turned pastor/farmer from Ohio, this essay is a succinct and humorous look at Huskins' struggle to discern what elements of modern technology he should allow in his life. He uses a horse and buggy for local travel, but still maintains a car for long trips. As a pastor, he long resisted using anything but pen and paper for sermon preparation. As he took a pastorate at a larger church he ventured from word processor to PowerBook, saving hours of sermon preparation time per week, time better spent in the more relational aspects of pastoring. In addition to the questions I mentioned above, he added an additional one: “Will the Kingdom of God be any closer to existing on earth as it is in heaven if I have this tool?” In the case of the computer, he felt the answer was yes. As the essay ends, Huskins leaves us with the image of the glow of his computer screen emanating from the inside of his horse-drawn buggy as he travels about his pastorate.

I find this essay encouraging, partly because I, too, have chosen to forgo pen and paper and write this blog on a laptop, but then I go a step farther to publish it on a website and link it to - gasp! - facebook. Huskins' honesty about the tension between technology and the simpler life helps me see how much thought, discernment and prayer needs to happen when we make choices on how we are to live our lives. No matter how strong our Luddite leanings, most of us will not take a sledgehammer to our present jobs and lifestyles and take up organic farming with horse and plow or use a horse and buggy as our primary means of transportation. But we can choose to live our lives differently from the way the surrounding culture says we should. I think Huskins' question - “Will the Kingdom of God be any closer to existing on earth as it is in heaven if I have this tool?” - is a good starting point for my Lenten look at thinking, discerning and praying about the choices I make in my desire to live a simpler life. This question, I suspect, can generate a series of related questions – Is this tool/item/idea going to bring me closer to God? In what way will this tool/item/idea impoverish the talents and creative skills God has given me? Such questions will ultimately lead me to a simple basic one – Am I willing to let God into my decision-making process when I am given the opportunity to allow a new tool/item/idea in my life?