Torch, Spring/Summer 2011

Spring–Summer 2011 | TORCH 11 The problem is not that the individual segments are too short — you can say a lot in a few minutes. It’s that each line of thought is instantly replaced by another. McKibben’s experience reflects an observation Jacques Ellul made in his 1965 book Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes . Ellul’s notion of “propaganda” was broad, not limited to its typical meaning, but encompassing all of modern mass media. “To the extent that propaganda is based on current news, it cannot permit time for thought or reflection,” Ellul wrote. “A man caught up in the news must remain on the surface of the event; he is carried along in the current and can at no time take a respite to judge and appreciate; he can never stop to reflect. There is never any awareness — of himself, of his condition, of his society — for the man who lives by current events.” As we think about this loss, we begin to understand why some Christians are seeking a haven of solitude in order to experience rest and contemplation. Loss of a Biblical Sense of Rest In his 1947 essay, “Leisure, the Basis of Culture,” German philosopher Josef Pieper argues that the “ultimate justification” of leisure is derived “from its roots in divine worship” and in the biblical notion of a “day of rest.” He wrote, “In divine worship, a certain definite space of time is set aside from working hours and days … and is not used , but is withdrawn from all merely utilitarian ends.” In today’s secularized culture, the divinely ordained basis for a day of rest has been replaced by scientific evidence. In his book Calendar , David Ewing Duncan reports chronobiologists have found “that certain biorhythms in the human body work on seven-day cycles, including variations in heartbeat, blood pressure, and response to infection.” Writing more than 60 years ago, Pieper foresaw the consequences of changing this rhythm. “The vacancy left by absence of worship is filled by mere killing of time and by boredom,” he wrote, “which is directly related to inability to enjoy leisure; for one can only Your gift to the Cedarville Fund supports the bedrock elements of the student experience: daily chapel, Christian ministries, world-class academics, the Bible minor, and student scholarships, to name a few. Help us give students a firm foundation! Visit cedarville.edu/firmfoundation and give today! Provide a Scan to watch a fun video!