Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Cor. 10.5)

Outcomes

Memory
Living purposefully is a function of vision and consciousness, disciplines and routines, and regular progress checks to make sure we’re on a path toward the good life, however that may be conceived.

Memory, of course, plays a large part in all this. Memory fixes our purpose and vision in the mind, so that these guide our goals and activities. Memory puts at our disposal the information we need to accomplish the routines and disciplines that help us in pressing on in life. Memory is such a precious tool that an entire industry of memory enhancement has grown up in our day, featuring books, seminars, courses, and even annual competitions.

Memory works best when it is reduced to a system of images, all associated together in one grand, overarching template. As Joshua Foer explains it, “The idea is to create a space in the mind’s eye, a place that you know well and can easily visualize, and then populate that imagined place with images representing whatever you want to remember” (Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything).

This “memory palace” technique is well known to aficionados of the new Sherlock Holmes’ series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

However, Sophie McBain is worried that our dependence on digital devices is eroding our ability to remember (“Head in the cloud,” New Statesman, 23 February 2016). So much information available at the click of a mouse might discourage people from exercising their memories, thus causing memory itself to atrophy. Nicholas Carr has expressed similar concerns (The Shallows).

But human beings have been headed down this path for centuries, as we have moved from an oral to a written culture, from parchment and vellum to movable type, and from pen and ink to typewriters and computers. We may have dulled our memories a bit along the way, but at each stage, more information has become available, and more readily, leading to more innovation and improvements in human life and culture.

I’m not bothered that I can retrieve definitions, dates, brief summaries, answers to questions, proper spellings (such as “Cumberbatch”), and tons of other information from the Internet without leaving my desk. The time I would have to spend memorizing all the information I need, or searching it out in books, can be put to better use.

But Ms. McBain’s fears relate particularly to personal memories, such as are posted on social media – the problem of memories that just won’t go away. Once our activities, knee-jerk responses, thoughtless photos, and juicy bits of gossip are posted on the Web, they are no longer simply our memories, but those of long- or soon-to-be-forgotten friends or enemies, people you dissed and wonder why they no longer text, and researchers and marketers in all kinds of fields.

Many people, having had some Internet posting blow up in their faces, find themselves thinking a variation of “If only I’d remembered not to be so stupid!” I gather there’s even a new reality TV series dedicated to people who have ruined their lives by unwise use of social media (“The Internet Ruined My Life,” SyFy network – thank you, Internet).

Like any tool, the Internet can be misused. But engaged as a resource with Kingdom purpose, to enlarge consciousness for serving Christ, or for growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, the Internet is to our generation what the printing press was to Luther’s. It all depends on the mindset and motive with which you approach it.

Indeed, I’m persuaded the Internet can be food for our memories, because it feeds a gourmet’s cuisine of information-food to satisfy our appetites for knowing.

The quality of our memories – both those we retain and those we share with others – will depend on what we hunger to know. Obviously, if all we hunger for from the Internet is gossip, cheap thrills, or diversions, our memory will most likely drive us to seek only more of the same, pulling us down into a black hole of pop culture and trivial pursuits.

But if we hunger to know the Lord, if we delight in His Word, and are daily furnishing our memory palace with its teachings; if our purpose in life is to seek the Kingdom and righteousness of God, to grow in His grace and truth, and to fulfill our disciple-making mandate; then, while we may not always remember how to spell the latest British star’s last name, we should feel free to engage the Internet as needed, to refresh that memory quickly, and enable us to get on with the task of enlarging our consciousness and fulfilling our calling in the Lord.

For reflection
1.  What temptations do Christians need to be aware of in using the Internet?

2.  Are you actively involved in sharpening your memory and “furnishing” your “memory palace”?

3.  The Scriptures talk about memory in terms of the heart (cf. Ps. 119.9-11). How does the heart – what we love – influence what we choose to remember?

How can Christians encourage one another to enlarge their consciousness and engage their memories for the purposes of Christ and His Kingdom? Talk with a couple of your Christian friends about this question.

T. M. Moore

Stretch your vision of Christ and His Kingdom by ordering a copy of T. M.’s book, The Kingship of Jesus, from our online store (click here). You can download a free meditation on the glory of Jesus Christ exalted, Glorious Vision: 28 Days in the Throne Room of the Lord, by clicking here.

The Week features insights from a wide range of topics and issues, with a view to equipping the followers of Christ to take every thought captive for Jesus. Please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.