Soulfood

It’s interesting reading the Reinke book (see previous post) while simultaneously re-reading Kelly Kapic’s book You’re Only Human (reading for men’s group). Kapic does excellent work exegeting what it means to be a creature whose limits existed pre-Fall – that is to say, our finitude is good and in no way a result of the fall. It is not sinful to be a created being, limited by time and derivative in all aspects of our existence.

Whereas Reinke rather carelessly (though to be fair, he does show slight caution in his book in this regard) affirms that technology is a means of overcoming human limitations, Kapic presents the (in my opinion) far more Biblical argument that we are not, in fact, supposed to do all we can to surpass the limits inherent to our creaturely existence.

In yet more synergies, I am also re-reading The Lord of Psalm 23 (David Gibson) in preparation for leading a Sunday School class based on it. Chapter 1 contains the following quote:

“Look how needy David is in Psalm 23. If the Lord is his shepherd, then he is of course portraying himself as sheep-like in all the things he needs. he requires food, rest, water, guidance, shelter, comfort, housing, helping. You name it, David needs it.” Psalm 23 celebrates YHWH’s provision of all our needs. We are needy because we are human. It’s not bad to be needy.

Technology sees neediness as a problem to solve through human ingenuity. In fairness to Reinke, he does note clearly that technology cannot meet our deepest human needs. But he misses making the point that neediness is not a technological problem to be solved. And human limitations are not bad. Limits keep us sane. A world without them is overwhelming and leads us not to rest but to anxiety and depression. Acknowledging and giving thanks for our human limits is life-giving.

Anyways, that was a neat little set of connections I made between several recent reads that I thought was worth sharing. All comments welcome.