The other evening, I was doing some work in my home office. I was doing some research on the internet from my computer. Suddenly, the screen went blank, and a little box appeared in the bottom corner of the screen that said, “You are not connected.” A moment later the same basic message appeared on another device I was carrying. I went upstairs to see if Nancy had done something with our internet connection. Nope, she was sitting there reading a book.
I went to the room where all the computer and internet connection equipment is located. I stood there looking at the boxes and jumble of cords. What to do…what to do…what to do??? Then the voice of my son rang in my head, “Dad, the first thing you do with technology, if there’s a problem, is unplug it and then plug it back in.” So, that is what I did. Unplugged things, waited a minute or so, and then plugged it all back in. And that seemed to take care of the issue. We were once again connected.
I wish my spiritual life came with those sorts of pop-up messages. You know, like what happened with my computer the other night. I wish there would be a message box that would appear saying something like, “Your connection with God is weak!” Or that it would just say flat out, “No Connection with God!”
If there were those sorts of messages that would appear in our lives, would we know what to do? Now that is a great question! Would we know what to do? The advice of my son doesn’t seem to apply – Unplug everything. Or does it apply?? Maybe we, or at least I, really do need to “unplug.” Unplug is a word used in our day to mean to rely less on technology. That’s probably not bad advice.
This season of Lent is, in a sense, a time of unplugging – a time for resetting things, in order to reconnect with what is really important in life and what is really important in our faith. The focus of Lent isn’t so much on giving up stuff, as it is considering what the barriers are that slow down, interfere, or even block the connection that we have with God. Giving something up for Lent isn’t so much about sacrifice, in my opinion, it’s more about removing the distractions that get in the way of our faith connection and our growing in God.
For me, one of the things I’ve been cutting back on during Lent is my use of social media on my smartphone. An interesting feature my phone has is that it will tell me how much time I use the various apps or programs on my phone. After the first week of Lent my phone reported that my usage had dropped 79%. Oh my goodness!!!! That means there’s more time each day for other things, like my relationship with my spouse and my connection with God. I hadn’t realized just how much time I spend looking at the screen in my hand.
The truth of the matter is, I think there are dialogue boxes within us that try to give us messages about our connection with God, but the question becomes, do we pay any attention to those messages? Maybe it’s that little nagging feeling that I should, or shouldn’t, do something. Maybe it’s the feeling that I should slow down. Maybe it’s the sense of emptiness that I feel within. Maybe it’s the little voice calling me to open my Bible or simply talk to God. Maybe it’s the feeling of needing to just go outside for a quiet walk without anything playing on our earbuds or headphones. There probably really are a lot of Message Boxes in our faith journey…it’s just that they get overlooked or maybe even ignored.
Today, or in the coming week, what if we each took a moment to unplug and reconnect with our God who knows us best and loves us the most. That is what the journey of Lent is all about!!
Pastor Keith