Several years ago, I failed to make it through Lent without visiting my favorite time-sucking Web site; I’ve never even considered giving up Facebook or going offline entirely (not a professional option, anyway). But, all this coverage of the Sabbath Manifesto’s call for a “National Day of Unplugging” has inspired me to try something that seems more manageable and potentially beneficial:

From sundown today (Friday, March 19) until sundown tomorrow, this Jewish-based experiment aims to, as Beliefnet’s Idol Chatter blog explains, get “the nation’s multitasking, hyperconnected, iPhone-waving, Tweeting, Facebooking, tech-addicted masses (to) put down their devices and reconnect with the things that are really important.”

(Those who know me are definitely laughing pretty hard right now.)

Well, I’ll keep my phone on for incoming messages — I’m far too neurotic/addicted to risk missing an emergency call or breaking news (which is, after all, my livelihood) — but I’ll at least attempt to abstain from initiating anything, including powering up my laptop. God knows it could use a day of rest, especially with the health care debate, upcoming holidays of Passover and Easter, and all the other religion news and random features it’s been churning out lately.

Good luck, and good Sabbath.

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