Searching for Meaning in a World Without Google

I’m connected — wired at home, at work, and on my hip. Info is always available. Need a price check, an airline schedule, or a quote for a Bible study? Got it. The collected knowledge of
the ages can be accessed in seconds. Google, the company, is now Google, the verb.

Photo by Di Benard

Recently I was challenged to ponder life without Google. Well, not just ponder, but actually live without unfettered access to information. So for a week, I boldly walked away from Google — and all other search engines — as an experiment, a spiritual discipline, an accepted dare.

Like a smoker giving up nicotine, I wondered if I could actually follow through. Would I sneak away when no one was looking to get an information fix? A world without Google would mean a withdrawal from my addiction to instant information. I would have to be content without all the answers. To be honest, I was afraid of ignorance. But I stuck to my commitment — except for one weak moment when I looked for the final score of the San Francisco Giants game.

Lessons Learned
As the week wore on, I realized my gluttony for instant information gratification. Letting go meant a return to a slow gleaning of the world around me.

I found myself watching, listening, and observing. During my life without Google, I discovered that the mere ability to call up information does little to showcase human intelligence.

While the Internet hosts most of the collected knowledge of the ages, there’s still no substitute for understanding. There’s no better way to learn something than through patient observation and study. A search engine shortcuts all that. I could Google the top five characters in a Flannery O’Connor novel and get a succinct summary. But reading and living those words is an  entirely different experience.

I could search for what Jesus taught about money, or I could read His red letters and find ways to apply the depth of His teachings one principle at a time. I can search for “How to find peace” and get 700 million results in .13 seconds. But all that access to knowledge and information doesn’t do a thing for my restless heart. I can have all opinions in the world available to me online and still make foolish choices.

In this modern age, we don’t like waiting. But the answers to life’s most vexing questions often aren’t found instantaneously. Sometimes we must patiently pine in the quiet. Isaiah wrote, “I long for You in the night; yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks You” (Isaiah 26:9).

Transformation Trumps Information

Photo credit: Aray Chen

When the dreaded diagnosis comes, will we turn to Google to find the latest cure, or will we pray? When a vexing problem grips us, will we look for a quick fix, or will we diligently search the Scriptures?

God is omniscient, holding the answers to every question available. But if we simply want to pump Him for information, we’re missing out. He’s not the library reference desk or holy help line. What we really need God for is transformation — that radical change of heart that alters the way we live.

With the crush of a modern world, maybe I will sit as David did, surrounded by the uncertainty and say, “I waited patiently for the LORD, and He turned to me and heard my cry for help” (Psalm 40:1). There’s no Internet search, no app that can match that knowledge.

Above article Copyright Lifeway Resources