Caged and Comfortable
How the Modern Lifestyle Destroys Our Link to God
The modern age is one of unprecedented technological achievement. The number of revolutionary inventions in the past few decades boggles the mind. Gadgets and gizmos abound to solve every problem, to eliminate every inconvenience, and to put the world’s knowledge at our fingertips. Scarcely a day goes by without some new upgrade or improvement to our already very advanced machines, making them still better, more efficient, more powerful, and more able to make our lives comfortable and convenient.
This proliferation of technology sets the current time apart from all other ages of human history. The lifestyle of the modern world is drastically different from that of our forefathers back to Adam. Never before in human history has man been so comfortable. Never before have we had to work so little. Never before have we had such easy access to the necessities and even the luxuries of life. With our technology, we have surpassed the eagle in flight, we have beaten the horse at speed. The sun can no longer oppress us with her heat. The wind and the storm are powerless to hurt us. We have overcome the forces of nature, and now life is easy and pleasant, and there is little to suffer.
How different was the life of our forefathers! For them, life was hard. In a world lacking the technology we now enjoy, they had to grapple with the environment around them. Winter came with its frosty air that pierced them to the bone and drew them to the family hearth. The scarcity of light made evenings short and nights long. Food was seasonal, and their diet was drastically altered during the cold months. They had to adapt to the conditions. Survival depended on it.
Even the summertime, with its fair weather, brought its own unique set of challenges. The sun beat down upon them and the shadow of a roof or a tree shielded them from its rays if not from its heat! It was the time of growth, of light, and of life, when fruits and vegetables were abundant, and when they enjoyed the fresh produce that winter denied them. It was a time when the weather was warm, and evenings long, when provisions were produced and then laid aside for the cold months to come.
In sum, the men of the past were keenly aware of themselves and their environment. They could not escape it, and survival depended upon it. They were attuned to the weather, the seasons, the vegetation, the heavenly bodies, the properties of the earth. Just as we cannot ignore the clothes that we wear since they touch us always, they could not ignore their natural environment. It was always there, something to be dealt with and treated with respect. Their life was shaped by their connection with the earth.
Modern technology has changed all of this. The earth no longer shapes the way we live. We have inventions to overcome nearly all the challenges our forefathers faced. Darkness no longer limits us. We have electricity to give us equal light at all times of the day or night. Heat or cold no longer oppresses us. We have systems of heating and cooling that allow us to live in a stable temperature at nearly all times of the year. With our modern construction, we no longer fear the might of a storm. Any damage that is sustained is quickly repaired by our insurance. Food, grown in some other part of the world, is acquired with ease and without toil neatly packed in plastic. It is even sometimes delivered to our door! Even the most arduous of natural pursuits, the pursuit of knowledge, is now rendered easy through the ubiquitous access to internet.
We live in a bubble of comfort. Modern technology surrounds man with an artificial environment suited to his tastes and preferences. This environment distances us from the earth, and in this way, distances us from the hardships of life close to the land. For our forefathers, to walk outdoors, to ride a horse, to eat a supper by candlelight, or to gather around a fire was something routine and commonplace. For us, it is something extraordinary and exotic, something to be done on vacation or on a special occasion. Our reality has become the office cubicle, the interior of our car, our sterile and climate-controlled home, and our computer screens, things which make up in comfort what they lack in character.
At first, we might be inclined to celebrate the status quo. We have overcome so many challenges. Life is better than ever before! It seems like we have progressed farther than any other human generation. Is not this cause for celebration? However, a drive through a modern city or a glance at the news headlines is enough to destroy this naive enthusiasm. The world has never fallen to such depths of depravity as we see today. Crime is rampant, and we celebrate and promote practices that would make the men of other generations blush with shame. We have technology, but are we better for it?
If we intend to live for this life, then things have never been better, and we have every reason to rejoice and to fill our lives with the good things of this world. If, however, we are not content to live for this life, if we are hungry for virtue and holiness, if we are dissatisfied with the things of this earth and long for the things of heaven, then perhaps it is time to reconsider the modern way of life. Perhaps this comfort has a downside. We have better machines than our forefathers, but are we better men? We live longer lives than ages past, but are we living fuller and more meaningful ones? Is it good to live in this artificial environment or is it time for a return to the land?
To answer these questions, let us examine the plan of God. Why did he create the world? Why did he create us? What order did God establish among creatures to achieve the end of creation? How did he intend us to live in this world? If we examine these questions, then it will soon become clear how we should evaluate the current age and how we might change our lives if we want to live the good life that leads to life eternal.
Creation and the Plan of God
Creation was a free choice of God. God did not need to create. God is perfection itself, and he does not need anything or anyone else to perfect or complete Him.1 With that in mind, we might wonder why He went to the trouble of creating such a vast universe. What end did He have in mind? What does He get out of it?
The catechism tells us that God created, “to show forth His goodness…”2 This line, which has almost become a platitude, is difficult to understand. Why does God need anyone to see His goodness? St. Thomas explains that this desire to share with others is in the very nature of goodness.3 Goodness is meant to be shared. When someone is good, or has good things, they are inclined by the very nature of goodness itself to share it with others. It is a sort of impulse that is present wherever “goodness” is found. It is natural to goodness.
This rather abstruse principle is something that we witness every day in human interaction. It is not something that we question. It is just the way it is. When someone has something that is good, perhaps a thought, a photo, or a material object, they burn with a desire to share it with their family and friends. Once upon a time, these things would be shared in a letter, in conversation around the dinner table, or through some personal encounter. Now the common thing to do is to text it to them, or to put it on social media. Either way, the principle is the same. Good things are meant to be shared.
God, who is goodness itself, also burns to share Himself with others, with us. He communicates His goodness to us. But since man is both spirit and matter, this communication takes place on two levels: the natural and the supernatural. The most perfect sharing of the Divine Goodness happens through grace. Grace is real participation in the Divine Nature which makes the Trinity dwell in the soul. Man becomes an adopted child of God, and he bears His likeness.
However, there is also a natural communication which happens through the universe created by God. Through His creation, God reveals Himself to us through His effects. While creation is not so perfect an image of God as grace makes the soul to be, it is nevertheless a reflection of God. It shows forth His infinite goodness and perfections. This is because He made it from nothing; it is entirely His work. Things that are made will resemble the one who made them.4 Any work will leave behind a trace of the one who accomplished it. The painting will tell us about the painter. The house will have something to say of the carpenter. God made the world, and the world bears His trace.
The reason for this is found in the creative process itself. When a craftsman or an artist creates, it is not merely his hands that do the work. He also uses his mind and his heart. The most intimate parts of the soul are bound up in the creative act. Certainly he uses his hands to fashion the material, but his hands work according to an ideal that he has in his mind. If it were not for this idea, his hands would not know what to do. Yet even if he has an idea, and he has the ability to make it, that is not enough for the work to be done. Many of us know how something is done, have the power to do it, yet do not. We need something else to make us act and that thing is love. The craftsman loves the thing he is making, or he loves the one for whom it is made, and it is this love which pushes him to execute the project.
In a similar way, Creation is the product of Divine Power, Divine Wisdom, and Divine Love. Creation is the work of the whole Trinity, a product of the Divine Essence and, while it is a work common to the whole Trinity, we can attribute a part of it to each Divine Person.5 God the Father has the power to create anything He wills. However, even God Himself needs a pattern or idea to follow in the creative act. This pattern or idea is the Son who is the Word, the idea that God has of Himself. This is what St. John tells us: “through Him all things were made.”6 This is what St. Paul means when he tells the Hebrews, “…the world was framed by the word of God: that from invisible things visible things might be made.”7 It is God the Father who creates after the image of His Son, and by the love between them which is the Holy Ghost. Therefore, we can truly say that the processions of the divine persons are the cause of creation! The Trinity leaves its trace upon its work.
Just like the perfection of the painting depends on the ordering of each part within the whole, each part of the created order has its place in the universe. In this way, there is a hierarchy of perfections which contribute to the perfection of the whole. Just like the proper placement of shadow and the light in a painting add to the richness of the image, the submission of the less perfect to the more perfect adds to the beauty and perfection of creation.
There are many degrees of excellence among material creatures, but at their head is man, who has both an intellect and a will. God placed man at the head of creation to rule over it, to tend it, to keep it,8 and to contemplate the Divine perfections. When God created Adam, He put him in a garden. He is told to tend it and keep it and to eat of the fruits thereof. We see him begin this work with the naming of the animals. He enjoys the garden, eating of its fruits and walking with God in its midst.9 If he had not sinned, he would have continued in that state of earthly bliss till he would have been taken up to heaven.
Even after the first sin, God intended man to continue in this place in creation. The only modification that God makes to man’s original place in creation is that from then on, he would work the land by the sweat of his brow. He would still have to tend to the created order, but this would now be hard work as a punishment of sin. The land would not cooperate, and it would be difficult to cultivate. After Adam’s banishment from Paradise, we see the two sons of Adam both undertake work on the land. Cain tends to the fields whereas Abel feeds the flocks.
Man’s place in creation is important for creation itself. God endowed man with an intellect and a will. With these two faculties, he is enabled to participate in God’s providence. Through exercising his foresight, his prudence, and by intervening in the course of nature, man assists God in the governance of creation. By caring for creation, man gives a visible image of the providence of God. This cooperation places before the eyes of men a very visible representation of God’s care for His creatures. When men witness someone wisely caring for the things of the earth, they have a better idea of the infinite wisdom and providence of God. Man’s place at the head of creation is important for creation to glorify God.
However, it would be a mistake to think that Man’s place in creation was only for the good of the created order alone. It is also important for man himself.10 God put him in the garden not only to care for it but so that he could be cared for by it. Creation is to benefit by the work of man. Man is meant to benefit by his place in creation. This makes sense when we consider that the good of the whole is shared by every part. The place assigned to man in the created order is meant to help him arrive to the perfection of his whole being. Accordingly, man’s place in creation affords him benefits that are natural, spiritual, and supernatural.
By taking his place at the head of creation, man receives many natural benefits. By tending to the garden, the natural organism of the human body was to be maintained and perfected. The earth was to give food for the nourishment of man.11 The sun would warm him with its rays. The work that he would do would have exercised and strengthened the body keeping it healthy and fit.
We see these benefits in those who live in touch with the land. The work that it demands, while inconvenient and difficult, promotes the health of the body. This is not by accident. It is because man in such a state is closer to that intended for him by God. Those who work the land, those who engage in agriculture or gardening, those who use tools to master and change their environment are often strong and healthy.
Modern medicine is keenly aware of this. In an age when the majority of work has been taken from us and given to machines, engineers invent countless machines designed to exercise and strengthen the muscles. These machines simply try to do artificially what was once done by the swinging of a hoe, the lifting of a stone or a hay bale, or the pulling of weeds. Furthermore, so many of the medicines and remedies suggested by doctors are merely artificial substitutes for what comes naturally from the land.
Man’s place in creation is not only intended for his physical benefit. It was also meant to help him grow in knowledge. A study of psychology as well as any brief reflection on our own thought process will tell us that man’s knowledge comes from his senses. God alone can infuse knowledge without using the senses. The way that we learn virtually all that we know is through the five senses and through their contact with the world around us.
As a child we touched many things. We felt the smooth texture of the wood floor and rough feel of the carpet. We felt the warmth of our mother’s arms and the cool breeze blowing in through the open window. As our eyes adjusted we learned the faces of our parents and siblings. We became familiar with their voices and the sounds of home. We learned to recognize our favorite foods by smell and taste. As we grew older this process of learning did not stop, but there was added to it learning from the written and spoken word. Knowledge was poured into our minds through the sound of the voice or through the sight of written characters on a page.
The five senses are our link to reality. They are the means by which we contemplate the works of God around us. The created order bears a trace of the Trinity. It was created by the power of God through the Word and by the Holy Spirit. Without the light of Revelation, it is through contemplating this creation alone that we come to know about the deeper order behind things and the Creator that made it all. Even with Divine Revelation, the contemplation of the created order gives us a deeper insight into all natural truths. It helps us to know the principles governing all things. It helps us to now the deeper reasons for why things are what they are. It was through observing and contemplating creation that the ancient philosophers arrived at their theories of everything.
Therefore, by living his role as the keeper and head of creation, man is in a perfect position to contemplate the natural truths of the universe. He can grow in science and wisdom and his knowledge of all things. In other words, through his place in God’s order, he gains immense intellectual benefits since through his proximity to creation, his intellect is brought closer to reality and, through this contact, closer to the creator Himself. Through His effects, he approaches closer to the cause.
His place in the created order also helps his soul rise to God. Creation is meant to show forth the goodness and perfections of God. These perfections are meant to be seen, to be contemplated by rational creatures, and they are, in turn, meant to praise Him for them. In other words, creation is meant to move man to the praise and worship of God. Faced with the might of the ocean, the vastness of the night sky, the beauty of a flower, or any other perfection of nature, man is meant to see a little reflection of the one who created it. This reflection is to fill him with wonder at the perfections of God, and then he is meant to render to God the homage of his whole being through the practice of religion.
This is a natural reflex which we see in the pagans who worship the sun, the earth, and various elements of nature. They fail to understand that these are not gods, but reflections of God Himself. Faced with the beauty of creation, they are moved to worship creation itself. This error of the pagans nevertheless proves the principle that the perfection of creation is meant to move man to worship, to adore. This is a sort of natural instinct. This is the way that God made us.
Through his contact with the natural order man was to reap even supernatural benefits. By tending to creation and participating in the providence of God, man is meant be filled with a sense of his own littleness and the greatness of God. This is something that each one of us can verify through experience. When we are faced with the beauty of nature, we are instinctively drawn to think of the one who made it, and we feel very small.
A Departure from Order
Unfortunately, the modern lifestyle has pulled the majority of men away from their natural place in creation. Very few now live in contact with the earth, and many live in a sort of bubble of comfort. Their connection with the land has been severed. They live in an artificial paradise that substitutes plastic for the reality. If what has been said above is true, then this lifestyle is dangerous. If God put man in the garden for his natural, spiritual, and supernatural benefit, then modern man should show symptoms of sickness and malnutrition all these areas. That is, in fact, exactly what we find.
On the level of physical wellbeing, it is not an exaggeration to say that we are not well. Certainly, modern medicine helps us to live much longer than in the past, but in general, we are not healthier. Especially in the United States, obesity is almost the norm and not the exception.12 Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses plague us, and it is almost seems rare for one to die of “natural” causes. Healthy and balanced living is uncommon, and we could almost say it is the luxury of the rich who have the time and money to exercise and eat well.
Far more alarming is the psychological sickness that we see everywhere around us. Anxiety and depression are rampant. Disorders of every kind are everywhere, and so many poor people resort to drugs or even suicide for escape and relief. We are not well, and the shootings and acts of senseless violence that now happen more and more often are a testimony to the psychological imbalance that plagues so many these days.
Almost worse is the sickness in modern thought and philosophy. We have become detached from all reality, and we now celebrate practices that shocked and horrified men of other times. Artificial birth control is ubiquitous, and it is considered a part of being “responsible.” We consider it normal to kill unborn children in the womb. We think that a man is a woman simply because he “identifies” as such, and we let him compete in women’s sports and use women’s facilities. We consider it good and normal for people of the same sex to marry and raise children, and we force these sick and twisted ideas upon the minds of the young and innocent.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the mind of modern man is deeply sick. We can say that he is deranged. It has become so far separated from the reality around it that it denies objective truth. It considers as true whatever is identified as such. Reality is a question of choice. It is what we think it is, almost like a video game in which we can choose the sex of our character, the place in which we play, and in which our actions have no consequences since we can just “respawn” if we make a mistake.13
This disconnection from reality damages even the soul of man. Detached from the earth, which is meant to lift him up to God, his soul is pinned to the purely material. Never has the world been so godless. Atheism, at least practical, is everywhere. We believe that we are the long-term result of random material processes. Isolated and cut off from the natural world around us, we are surrounded by the works and creations of man. It is not surprise then, when men consider themselves omnipotent and deny, at least practically, the existence of a God.
Creation is meant to speak to us of God. Separated from the works of God, we forget about God Himself. The world speaks to us of Him, but we are not present to listen. This disconnect effects even those who believe in God and who profess His one true religion. Surrounded by modern technology and comforts, we no longer understand the language of symbolism. In the Sacred Liturgy we see the light of a candle. We smell the sweet smell of incense, we see the bright gold of the vestments. However, these symbols are lost on us who have never learned to appreciate a candle in the darkness, who daily use strong perfumes and colognes, who live in a world that is full of cheap and gaudy cloth and jewelry that glitters but is not gold.
Conclusion
Modern man is like a lion at the zoo. For him, life is easy. He no longer has to hunt, to fight for his food and his territory. Everything is given to him with little or no effort. He can lie about all day basking in the sun while the cage in which he lives shields him from the harsh realities of the jungle from which he was taken. He no longer has to fight. Life is good, and this, at first, may seem like a good thing. After all, a domesticated animal is so nice, and it doesn’t bite!
The consequences of this comfortable confinement are soon felt by the lion who gradually finds himself less than he once was. He no longer needs to fight or hunt; his teeth and claws grow dull with disuse. His strength diminishes, and his senses become more and more dull. He retains the nature of “lion,” but little more. The “King of the Jungle” becomes a shell of what he once was, a specimen for the amusement of passers-by.
Modern technology has placed us in a cage. We are sheltered from the harsh realities that our fathers had to confront. We are comfortable. We have a thousand gadgets to handle every inconvenience. We can answer each question through a search on Google. We hardly have to work anymore. There are machines and computers to do it all for us. The food is grown by complex automated machinery, and it comes to us packaged in plastic. Our wars are fought by drones and other killing machines. Snow is removed by trucks and snow blowers. Trenches are dug by back-hoes. Wood is cut with electric or gas-powered saws. Life is very good.
However, just like the lion, perhaps this comfort has a downside. We have better machines than our forefathers, but are we better men? We live longer lives than ages past, but are we living fuller and more meaningful ones? We accomplish more than they used to, but are these achievements going to resonate throughout time and space like the works of men in a simpler, slower age? Is this comfortable cage that we have created for ourselves good for us, or are we becoming weaker in body, mind, and soul? Is it good to live in this artificial environment or is it time for a return to the land?
It would be an oversimplification to blame all modern ills on technology. It would be almost as false to say that these things do not have their uses. It would be incorrect to say that all must become farmers to save their souls. Yet it would be safe to say that the artificial lifestyle is contributing to the separation of man from God. As with everything, “virtue stands in the middle.” Are we seeking the balance, or have we become comfortable in our cage?14
Endnotes
1 Ps. 15:2 “I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods.”
2 Morrow, Bishop Louis, My Catholic Faith, ch. 1, no. 1
3 Summa Theologica, Ia, Q. 5, art. 4 “Bonum est diffusivum sui…”
4 Ibid. Ia, Q. 19. Art. 2 “Omnis agens facit sibi simile.”
5 Ibid. Ia, Q. 45, art. 6
6 Jn. 1:3 “Omnia per ipsum facta sunt.”
7 Heb. 11:3
8 Gen. 1:26 “Let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the earth.”
9 Gen. 2:8-9;15-16 “And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed. And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil…And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it. And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat…”
10 Summa Theologica, Ia, Q. 102, a. 3
11 Gen. 2:16 “Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat…”
12 The CDC website states that in 2020, 41.9% of American were obese.
13 In more primitive third-world countries, these things are not so much of an issue. People in this condition are pagan, but their paganism is often more in keeping with the natural law. This cannot be said of the decadent, first-world countries of the West.
14 For more advice on how optimize technology while avoiding its harmful effects, see, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work both written by Cal Newport.
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