Can you hear me now?
No one was more excited than me when the cordless handheld telephones for land lines came out. No longer was I going to have to fight with a twisted-up cord when I went to answer the phone that nearly yanked the receiver from my hand. No longer would I have to have an extra long cord that would reach every corner of the kitchen that often clothes-lined the unsuspecting kid. No longer would I have to yell for the recipient of the call or sit in awkward silence until they picked up. No longer would the wrong family member pick up the telephone by mistake when I yelled the generic “telephone honey.” One time our daughter picked up the phone and said “me honey”, to which I responded, “no, Daddy honey.” Then when my husband got on the line he was greeted by his boss who said, “is this daddy honey?”
With these new cordless phones, I could actually walk through the house politely looking for the one the caller wanted. And while the cordless phone revolutionized phone etiquette in my house it also came with a few new problems of its own. Namely a bad connection. I don’t know if it was the fact that I bought an inexpensive phone, but the first-generation cordless phone had terrible static. As soon as you got two or three steps from the docking station you could barely hear the caller on the other end for all of the interference coming through the line.
Our spiritual lives can often resemble a cheap cordless phone. When we get too far from our power source we start to get a bad connection. When we can’t hear our Father’s voice clearly, we will often lose our way.
So, what do we need to do to stay connected? Here are a few things I like to do. When I feel disconnected from the Father I will get into my Bible. Now I admit I am in my Bible all the time, but it is for sermon prep or Bible study. It is not always to just sit with the words. I like to read through the Psalms as a good starter. I also like to listen to music to get a better connection, and not necessarily Christian music either. My favorite 21st century musical theologian is Jelly Roll. I like how he sings out loud about the human condition and what most of us are thinking, feeling or experiencing. Finally, when I am feeling disconnected, I will just sit and listen. This one is hard for me. I am not good at sitting still and my husband will tell you I am not good at listening. Usually one or a combination of all the above will get me back to where I need to be. I hope it does for you too.
On the journey, Ramonalynn Bethley
Ramonalynn Bethley is the Lead Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Alexandria. You can contact Ramonalynn directly at DrRevRL@fumca.org