"[Some people] keep Sabbath, all the while scheming for commodities. This is an epitome of 'multitasking.' In my horizon, the most unwelcome form of multitasking is with the cell phone — on the phone while at dinner with a guest or while driving. But a much more poisonous form of multitasking is taking notes during a church service . . . not notes on the sermon but a grocery list or calls to return or deals to make. Multitasking is the drive to be more than we are, to control more than we do, to extend our power and our effectiveness. Such practice yields a divided self, with full attention given to nothing.
"Jesus offers an ominous characterization of 'multitasking' with which Amos would have resonated:
" 'No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matt. 6:24)'
"To serve God and wealth at the same time is impossible. It is like keeping Sabbath and at the same time planning for commerce. It is like making deep love but all the while watching the clock. It is like praising Jesus while preying on the poor. Such multitasking with a divided heart means that there is no real work stoppage, no interruption in the frantic attempt to get ahead. Doing tasks of acquisitiveness while trying to communicate humanly is the true mark of the 'turn to commodity.' We all become commodities to one another, to be bought and sold and traded and cheated."
