Book Corner: Reboot

Reboot: refreshing your faith in a HIGH TECH world

Author: Peggy Kendall

What kind of read is it?

Written for someone who is curious to learn more about the ways technology has changed relationships and especially how it can impact our relationship with God.  A fairly quick read. Written with anecdotes and personal examples.

Why did I read it?

I read it for two reasons:

1. Peggy Kendall was one of my (favorite) professors at Bethel University.  I spent lots of time with her over the course of my college years, exploring Vienna on Europe Term, doing research for a scholarship, playing games at her house, talking about Alfred Hitchcock etc.  I like and admire her mucho.

2. I am passionate about understanding the impact technology is having on our lives.  I believe it's a tool that can be used for good, but it also has some negative impact as well.  I love to talk  and learn about it!

Favorite quotes from the book?
When we rush by or text through experiences and relationships, it is all too possible that we will completely miss the very things that God has designed specifically to give us joy and purpose. (p.4)


As wonderful as e-mail, computers, and Internet connections are, they can slowly steal away our margins.  They quietly fill up our time with things that are not all that important, tasks that are not that much of a priority, and people who aren't really there. (p.47-48)


The things we choose to hide might be an important part of who we are. (p.75)

What will I remember most about this book?

This book challenged me to think about my use of technology and how that lines up with the life God has called me to.  Maybe that sounds simple, but I think it's an important question to ask, and re-ask as seasons of life change.  For me, it encouraged me to continue staying away from facebook because that has been such a self-centered time-waster in my past.  And to focus on the people I am with, trying to be more fully present and willing to care for those around me.

 The theory is that for each thing that technology adds, 

it also takes something away.  

So our question should be, what is being taken away? Is it worth it?

P.S.

Here's a neat interview with Peggy about this book.

Also, be prepared for more Book Corner posts on the next few Mondays.  I'm catching up with my reading since last June people!