Yesterday our Internet connection was down almost all day. And I noticed how anxious I was . I’ve got a lot going this week: an upcoming trip, communication related to my dad, and refinancing our mortgage. And yet — it occurred to me how many years I got along without the Internet, and twelve hours without it was a real challenge.
I began to think — if idolatry is dependence on anything that is not God, what might be going on here? I don’t mean to say that the Internet is a bad thing — it’s a blessing in many ways. But I know I’m attached to having Internet access. I don’t even have a smartphone, but I want to be able to access e-mail more than once a day. Spiritually speaking, I can be attached to good things as well as bad — well-functioning children, my health, living in a beautiful place. None of those is necessary for spiritual well-being. Neither is the Internet.
My sainted husband got on the phone with customer service in the evening, and after an amazingly short time on the phone with a deliberate person located somewhere in India, we were back in business. I felt better immediately. But I still wonder, was that a good thing? Did I need to suffer as much as I did all day?