Rediscovering the Sacred in an Age of the Machine

 

Paul Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine captures something many people feel but struggle to express — that our world has grown increasingly mechanical, soulless, and alienated from the Divine. Modern society has been drifting for generations toward a worldview that sees human life, nature, and even love as data to be managed. The result is a spiritual emptiness that no amount of progress can fill.

A Hidden Force Behind the Secular Order

What Kingsnorth calls “the Machine” is not merely technology, but a mindset — a secular order that denies transcendence. Many sense that behind this lies a darker force, one that seeks to separate humanity from God and His energies. Artificial intelligence and the dream of creating a “god” of human design represent the newest chapter in this rebellion. The worship of progress has become the new paganism, cloaked in the language of science and innovation.

Politics Cannot Heal the Soul

Some hope that political solutions might stem the tide, yet all modern politics seem to operate within the same broken framework — a struggle for control rather than communion. No ideology can heal what is essentially a spiritual wound. The Orthodox view reminds us that true transformation does not begin in governments but in hearts turned toward God. As long as culture denies the spiritual, no policy can restore what has been lost.

The Right Use of Technology

Technology itself is not evil; it mirrors the soul of its maker. When driven by greed and pride, it enslaves. When used humbly, it can glorify the Creator. The challenge is not to flee the modern world, but to live within it sacramentally — to remember that all things exist for God’s glory, not for man’s domination.

Living Simply and Spiritually

Many today long to return to simplicity — to gardens, small communities, and meaningful work. These are good desires, but they must be grounded in spiritual purpose, not fear of collapse. The true answer is not retreat but transfiguration: learning again to see the world as sacred. Gratitude, care for others, and daily prayer restore what no system can.

Hope in the Return to the Divine

The forces of greed and confusion that define our time may seem overwhelming, but despair is part of their power. Hope lies in rediscovering that we are creatures — not creators of gods, but participants in God’s divine energies. Each act of humility, love, and beauty weakens the Machine and strengthens communion with the Source of all life.

Kingsnorth’s conversion to Orthodoxy and his exploration of the “wild saints” of Britain remind us that holiness still blossoms in unlikely places. The way forward is not to build a new system, but to awaken again to the presence of God in every moment and every created thing.

Reference: Against the Machine by Paul Kingsnorth