Staying Connected

If this is your first time reading one of my blog entries, I ask that you read at least the first entry, The Beginning of the Walk, to get an idea of why I am writing and the perspective I am writing from.

Initially, I was questioning my wanting a cell phone with applications that would give me the ability to check my e-mail and Facebook accounts at anytime. I decided that I didn’t want it because I would be tempted to do just that, check my e-mail and Facebook accounts all the time, even in the company of others. I have been in situations where I am interacting with someone and they pull out their phones (or more likely, their phones were never put up to begin with) and then that person decides to check their e-mail or Facebook page, write and send e-mails and update their status page. I can certainly see myself doing the same to others if the technology was available to me.

I came to realize that this technology is not all bad. It allows people to stay connected and ask for help when they need it. It allows for people to ask for prayers, to express deep concerns, to share wonderful joys and exciting news. It can even be used to help serve others.

Then I asked myself, what if I received a friend request on Facebook from God? Wouldn’t I want to stay as connected as possible with Him? Or would I ignore the friend request because I didn’t want Him to ‘know’ everything I was doing or saying? If I did accept God’s friend request would I monitor how I behaved, and what I posted on my status updates? I know this is kind of silly because God knows all that I do and feel, but what if?

What if we all wanted to stay as connected to God as we do with everybody else? What if we were able to check on God’s status updates as we do mere acquaintances on Facebook? What would God post on my wall? Would I always feel like I was doing something wrong, or would there be silence from God? Wouldn’t it be the greatest feeling in the world if God posted on your wall, “I love you.” “I am proud of you.” “I am glad you enjoyed your vacation with your family, how beautiful they are.” “I am seeing all that you are doing and I like it.” Could you imagine? What feelings would you have?

What if I could e-mail God and ask Him questions. “God, my family hates everything I make for dinner. What do they like?” “God, I really need your help with this.” Or “God, I was wondering if you could do this.” Would my e-mails be all about me or would I stop and realize that my relationship with God is NOT one sided? “God, what would you have me do in this situation?” “God, I wanted to thank-you for NOT answering that request I made. I now see that you know what is best for me.” “God, thank-you for loving me, I may never learn that I cannot live on bread alone.”

I think we are all yearning for some tangible something from God. We want Him to answer us back directly. We want Him to call our name. We want Him to make it easy for us. And sometimes when we think God called our name, ‘parted’ all the obstacles in our way to get what we want, we justify it or chalk it up as coincidence because it wasn’t how we expected God to act. And let’s face it, with the world at our fingertips at anytime with our computers and cell phones, we expect God to be just as accessible and easy to communicate with.

Isn’t prayer our e-mail or Facebook status with God? Or has the ‘well run dry on prayer?’ What I mean by the ‘well running dry’ is that possibly we Christians that have grown up in the western hemisphere have lost touch with how to pray and what it means to have a relationship with God.  We have grown up in a culture that emphasizes science and technology. That which is seen, felt and we are able to describe and prove through the scientific method is true. All else cannot be true. So our spiritual growth has focused on serving at a church capacity (being a part of a committee, heading up a project etc) or to serve others, but little has been done in facilitating or teaching us ‘the personal experience of, and a love relationship with, God as a vital part of spiritual growth.’ (Contemplative Prayer, praying when the well runs dry-Joann Nesser).

 I believe there are many people who feel that there is a void. Something is missing in our relationship with God. God is more than what we have come to know. We learn to pray to God with our concerns, petitions and intercessions. After a while, this type of prayer looses its effect on us. Some of us loose our desire to pray in this sort of manner, and we feel guilty about it. Don’t confuse loosing desire to pray intercessions, petitions and going to God with our concerns as loosing our desire for God. We know there must be more to the relationship than this. And there is. ‘This is not just any relationship, but a love relationship with God who is love. Just as any love relationship requires time alone together, we need such times in our relations with God.’ (Contemplative Prayer, praying when the well runs dry-Joann Nesser).

Time alone with God? Most of us want more time because we don’t have enough time in our days to get done what we need to get done. We don’t know where to or how to start having a deeper relationship with God. This brings me back to computers, Facebook, the Internet and e-mail. How much time do we spend looking up things on You Tube, checking our Facebook and e-mail accounts? Could some of the time be used instead to research different types of prayer that would help us begin our journey to a deeper relationship with God?

As in any relationship we have to invest ourselves into it. Our relationship with God will stay at the level it is currently at until we decide to do differently. We can continue to fill the void with material goods, behaviors that make us feel joys and pleasures for a short time, but underneath, deep within each of us there is a yearning for more. Many of us never figure out what that more is. Many of us avoid that yearning. Many of us are afraid of where that yearning may take us. That yearning and that void we try to keep filling with everything BUT God. Look at the yearning and the void as an invitation. An invitation to start developing a deeper relationship with God. Its NOT easy and it can be scary at times, but He promises never to leave you. He promises healing. He promises forgiveness. He promises joy. He promises inner peace. He promises unconditional love. When you decide to seek God on a deeper level you will begin to see the world differently. You begin to change. You realize how sweet and deep God’s love is for you and ALL of His creation.