“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Ann Lamott
Best Laid Plans…
Oh, the irony. Finding Zarephath encourages women in ministry in a number of ways, but a primary one is the mailing of regular encouragement messages and small gifts or tokens of remembrance. In February we ordered bookmarks with this quote to be distributed in our April mailer. Those mailers have not been sent out. First, because our work parties that usually meet to assemble them haven’t been able to, and second, because suddenly it didn’t feel like the most needed message. Telling 1500 women to take a time out and unplug, when they just spent a month at home on quarantine didn’t feel like the most apt message. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?
And Yet…
This morning however, as I pondered the blog post for this week, I was reminded of the bookmarks. We initially just thought we’d shelve them for another time, another season. The days when we are all too busy chasing all the details, all the needs, all the problems will return soon enough. There is almost never a time in ministry when we don’t need a reminder to unplug, the right time will avail itself.
This morning, however, I really thought about the message and our current reality. Our lives have changed dramatically in the last 2 months. Our rhythms and habits have all be tossed into a giant mixing bowl. For many of us our financial situation has gone from tight to precarious. Our social interactions have changed dramatically and our work environment now includes our kids & pets. Nothing is the same it was two months ago, and yet, for myself at least, and I suspect for many of you, the one thing we have not done is unplug.
My weekly cell phone usage report seems to be a glaring accuser. How many hours a day did I spend on my phone? How many hours on my computer? Netflix, YouTube & Hulu? My kids’ hours on Xbox or Nintendo Switch? How many hours of news feeds and the comment on them? If there is one thing I know I haven’t done, it’s unplug. I’ve disconnected from the social world around me, but those aren’t really the same thing. The noise of all the other places I’ve been plugged into is loud. Deafening at times, it serves to silence some of the losses I’ve experienced in this season, but it certainly isn’t unplugged.
A Simple Truth
So, this week, we are going to prep the mailers. We are going to move forward with the truth that all of us need a time to unplug, to silence the noise, and to make space to hear God in the silence. He waits for us there. So, whether you are beginning to return to some of your environments, or you are continuing to quarantine at home, will you take a moment and consider unplugging. Turn it all off. And breathe. Breathe in the silence, breathe in the promise of summer, breathe in the presence of God. He hasn’t been in quarantine, He’s been waiting for us to unplug.
Gayle Gonzales says:
Thank you so much for the reminder to unplug. I love the book mark and the message. You are so right. I don’t take time to unplug ever and just be. I am going to change that. I have been making small changes little by little, I am going to include unplugging in those changes. Thank you for the reminder that we need that. Blessings to you.
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