Here at JCPC we are entering day three of having no internet or telephones. I think about the commercial on TV that shows a family without internet for only a few minutes going crazy. So you can imagine in our day and time what it is like to have no internet or telephones at the church for what will probably be day four before it is fixed. The best guess at the present time is that we took some kind of lightning hit to our cable during the storms on Sunday night.
Not being connected obviously has its disadvantages. We can't contact others and they can't contact us. Messages others thought were getting through to us at the church are stuck in internet limbo. It has been very frustrating.
On the other hand, not being connected can give you some quiet time to work on things that might normally get interrupted or preempted by email or other messages. It is kind of like a Sabbath period - though not one we might normally choose. Yet, sometimes we need that enforced period of rest and renewal.
Staying connected to God is something we also need. Yet I find it more and more of a challenge for me to disconnect from the digital world in order to reconnect with God. My smartphone constantly overwhelms me with so much information that I feel like I don't have enough bandwidth to process it all. Given that, how do we find any time to make room for God?
Of course it just takes time and intentionality -- making it a priority throughout our day to reconnect with God through moments of prayer, or for being open to God's presence around us. Frederick Buechner calls this "paying attention to your life."
So whether or not you have internet today, I want to invite you to plan to make time to connect with God. Put it in your calendar. Treat those moments with God as a priority. It is one way to find the rest for your soul that Jesus says we can find when we come to him.
Prayer for Today
Loving Jesus, you have told us in scripture, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:29) This day, even now, we come to you to reconnect -- to find the Sabbath rest for our souls that we all need. Thank you for the gift of your refreshing, renewing Spirit! In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.
