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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
A Direct Line To God
October 25, 2007
I was standing in line at the Subway Restaurant when I noticed the woman
in front of me talking on her cell phone. She was engaged in a heavy
conversation with someone out in cyberspace as the sandwichmaker was
trying to fill her order. It was almost like she had been transported out of
line into another galaxy.
As the clerk tried to get her attention she waved him off and continued her
dialogue. Obviously whoever she was talking to was more important than
the fellow behind the counter or the people behind her in line. I can
understand that. When my wife calls me I drop everything too. Some
people just have to be given first priority. The problem is that too often we
become somebody we don't recognize when we pick up our cell phones.
It is as if we disengage our brains to take the call.
Every time I see someone with a blue tooth device protruding from their
ear, I can't help but think of the half man/half machine Borg from the Star
Trek adventures. The Borg were somehow connected to a central
intelligence that allowed them to function as one without thinking for
themselves. The way some people live with their cell phones I wonder if
we are not rapidly closing in on that type of future. We can't seem to live
without them any more. When the phone rings we drop everything and
scramble to receive the call no matter where we are.
I have to be honest. I love my cell phone. It gives me much greater
freedom than I have ever had before. I do a lot of driving and I try to
spend as little time as I can cooped up in the office. The cell phone allows
me to do that without missing the important calls that I need to take. My
phone allows me to engage the world and still remain connected to my
family and friends.
The freedom to be in the world is something God understood long before
cell phones were invented. You see God isn't tied down to a single place.
Some of us tend to treat God as if He were confined to our sanctuaries.
We go visit God on the Sabbath or the first day of the week. We come
home for the holidays and make a big show of it. Then we go off and do
our own thing leaving God behind.
The truth is that God shows up when we enter his house but most of the
time he is out and about just like you and me. The Israelites had a great
way of reminding themselves of this. They carried the arc of the covenant
with them wherever they went. We Christians took this a step further
when we embraced Jesus as our savior. We called him, Emmanuel, which
means "God with us."
As a result of this reality we don't need a landline to talk to God. We were
born with the capability to speak to Him directly. We don't need bluetooth
or anything else growing out of our ears. All we need to do is stop, get on
our knees and focus on Him. It is easy to stay in touch with God. All we
need to do is call His name. So if you are standing in line somewhere
today, why not step aside and let others go ahead, while you dial up God
just to say "hello." I can tell you He will be happy to hear from you.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
October 25, 2007
I was standing in line at the Subway Restaurant when I noticed the woman
in front of me talking on her cell phone. She was engaged in a heavy
conversation with someone out in cyberspace as the sandwichmaker was
trying to fill her order. It was almost like she had been transported out of
line into another galaxy.
As the clerk tried to get her attention she waved him off and continued her
dialogue. Obviously whoever she was talking to was more important than
the fellow behind the counter or the people behind her in line. I can
understand that. When my wife calls me I drop everything too. Some
people just have to be given first priority. The problem is that too often we
become somebody we don't recognize when we pick up our cell phones.
It is as if we disengage our brains to take the call.
Every time I see someone with a blue tooth device protruding from their
ear, I can't help but think of the half man/half machine Borg from the Star
Trek adventures. The Borg were somehow connected to a central
intelligence that allowed them to function as one without thinking for
themselves. The way some people live with their cell phones I wonder if
we are not rapidly closing in on that type of future. We can't seem to live
without them any more. When the phone rings we drop everything and
scramble to receive the call no matter where we are.
I have to be honest. I love my cell phone. It gives me much greater
freedom than I have ever had before. I do a lot of driving and I try to
spend as little time as I can cooped up in the office. The cell phone allows
me to do that without missing the important calls that I need to take. My
phone allows me to engage the world and still remain connected to my
family and friends.
The freedom to be in the world is something God understood long before
cell phones were invented. You see God isn't tied down to a single place.
Some of us tend to treat God as if He were confined to our sanctuaries.
We go visit God on the Sabbath or the first day of the week. We come
home for the holidays and make a big show of it. Then we go off and do
our own thing leaving God behind.
The truth is that God shows up when we enter his house but most of the
time he is out and about just like you and me. The Israelites had a great
way of reminding themselves of this. They carried the arc of the covenant
with them wherever they went. We Christians took this a step further
when we embraced Jesus as our savior. We called him, Emmanuel, which
means "God with us."
As a result of this reality we don't need a landline to talk to God. We were
born with the capability to speak to Him directly. We don't need bluetooth
or anything else growing out of our ears. All we need to do is stop, get on
our knees and focus on Him. It is easy to stay in touch with God. All we
need to do is call His name. So if you are standing in line somewhere
today, why not step aside and let others go ahead, while you dial up God
just to say "hello." I can tell you He will be happy to hear from you.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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