Here's
Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his
church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in
PA.
The old jingle goes "let your fingers do the walking through the yellow pages"
If that's the case, then my fingers have a long journey ahead of them.
I am all for communications
but sometimes less is better.
I admit that I am showing my age
when I say that as a child we had one phone in the house,
and that phone was on a party line with 4 other neighbors.
It wasn't unusual to pick up the phone
and hear your neighbor telling a friend their latest woes.
It wasn't strange because we knew our neighbors.
It's hard to imagine it was like that
in this world of cell phones and "fence around your house" privacy.
But it was a simpler and friendlier world back then.
I realize that many folks today would feel naked if they went anywhere without a cell phone,
but I never recall feeling "out of touch" with my family and friends.
We were in touch because we ate meals together,
we stopped to have conversations on our way because we weren't always in a rush,
and we were in touch, because each year we received that glorious encyclopedia of information,
the phone book.
Every April, the new phone book would show up at the mailbox,
right along with spring flowers and allergies.
I realize that most teenagers today
don't even acknowledge the existence of phone books,
but back in the dark ages, it was the first place to find things.
There was the white pages with all the residential listings,
the yellow pages with all the business by category,
and then the gray pages in the front that had everything from zip codes
to where one would go in the event of a nuclear explosion.
This was the internet on paper and it was at your fingertips.
Minus the occasional papercuts, information was a beautiful thing.
One would think that as we entered the internet era,
there would be less need for phone books, not more.
One less tree needing to be cut down
Evidently not.
I'm not sure when it started but in the last few years,
the number of phone books that I receive has increased.
This spring, I set a record by receiving 13 phone books.
That's right, 13 phone books....a baker's dozen.
There's the book that is the business listings for the county, both white and yellow pages.
There is another book called the "Superpages" which is the business listings
for all towns in the county except the county seat.
There is smaller book for businesses in the southern end of the county.
There is another book which is the business listings for the county seat only.
If you excelled at math in school,
you might respond, "But that's only 4 books" and you would be correct.
But my phone provider wanted to be sure that I stayed in touch at all times,
and so I received:
4 at my doorstep,
4 at the end of my driveway,
and 4 at the base of my mailbox.....
well, except for the two that were tossed next to the creek bed.
Let it be made known that a thin plastic bag does not protect a phone book
from excessive moisture.
Where is the 13th book?
Consider it a gratuity, an extra book thrown onto my yard.
That is what my dog is currently ripping apart in my backyard.
Now while I appreciate being remembered by my phone company,
it seems that 13 books is a bit excessive.
You only need so many books as booster seats and door stops.
Plus, none of the books contains residential listings.
However my "Superpages" phone books
tell me on the front cover that if I want residential listings,
I am only an 800 phone number away from obtaining a free copy.
I assume that ordering one book would really become three,
and I am not sure that I am ready to talk about 16 phone books.
It doesn't stop there.
In the fall they send out an updated book
so for me, 13 becomes 26.
I suppose in this this highly mobile culture,
it is important that I am informed biannually
that Don's Donut Dunkery is just around the corner
but it seems a bit much.
It seems ironic that in this world of electronic communications,
that I have a massive stack of old phone books looking for a place to call home.
I think that is in part, why we sometimes feel disconnected from the Lord.
There is so much emphasis on communications in our lives,
often about mindless things,
that we are distracted from communicating with the One who created our souls.
We can take time to read on the internet what a friend made for dinner that evening,
but find it difficult to take time to talk with the One who feeds our souls.
The generations that have evolved from the phone book to the internet,
know instantaneously what celebrities and sports figures are saying and doing,
but are mostly tuned out as to what the Lord of the Universe is saying and doing.
There is too much clutter,
too much information,
filling up our lives like a stack of old phone books.
How much different would we be
if we unplugged the phone more often,
and talked with God instead?
Not just formal prayers but ongoing conversations,
like how we used to talk with neighbors over the fence,
or with family around the table?
That's really what He wants.
And it is really what we want....... we just don't realize it.
Sometimes less brings you more......
more intimacy with God
more intimacy with others,
more intimacy with ourselves.
Now I realize that I am on the verge of sounding like a crotchety old man
with this rant about too many phone books,
but couldn't I just have one phone book once a year with everything I need?
I could live with that
and my backyard would be filled with fall foliage rather than phone book shreddings.
But I will persevere.
I WILL RECYCLE.
Now I just need to find the nearest recycle bin location.
I tried looking it up in the phone book but couldn't find it.
And so, I just asked a neighbor.
See how easy that was?
Now, go try it with the Lord.
He may not tell you where to go in the event of a nuclear explosion,
but I have a feeling that He will know exactly what to say.
Pray without ceasing.
I Thessalonians 5:17
