Clergy Letter

As some of you will have discovered, I have had problems with my landline at home. Outgoing calls were no problem, so I was still in communication with the outside world, but you would have found no joy if you tried to phone in to my number.

I have just spent a day and a half texting on my mobile phone with the company trying to put things right. – don’t get too excited, the problem was not remotely solved, and it will be another week before an engineer can come to the house to look things over!

I got to wondering about this connection I had with the ‘action line’. We had a two way ‘conversation’ that was texted in English and not computer-speak and the texter at the other end was very polite and kept using my name and thanking me for the tasks I did and the answers I gave. It made me feel as if we had some sort of relationship.

My musing took me to realise that I had no idea if I was talking to a male or female person, or which country they were texting from! Judging from the long pauses in between the two way flow I guess this person was dealing with more than one enquiry at the same time. At times he/ she used technical words that I had to ask for the meaning of, and a very patient reply came back explaining in simple language.

Are you wondering where all this tale is going?

Well I got to think about my time spent talking with God. I think of prayer time as a conversation with my maker and in some instances, it feel a bit like a messaging activity. I am ‘speaking’ with someone I cannot see, and I have no idea if gender even comes into it. The location of God is also an unknown at the time of our communication.

What I do know is that I try to be polite as I speak to him and I feel that I am being listened to and there is definitely a relationship between us. The answers that come back may take a little time, but I don’t feel he has put me on hold while he deals with another person. The answers that come my way are seen/ heard/ felt at the time that is the most helpful to me. The mode of reply might mean I have to ask for clarification sometimes, not that God uses technical language, but I can be slow on the uptake sometimes!

In the end, it might take a real person to come face to face with me to put any problem right. A God-sent ‘engineer’ who can help me with just the right words, gesture or even a cup of tea. There seem to be plenty of these people around who spread their light among us. How often do you find someone just at the moment of greatest need? Wherever or whoever God is he knows we need that help.

If you see me frantically texting on my mobile phone when you next meet me, rest assured, I will be communicating with a friend, or my phone provider. My prayers with God come from my heart and mind, not from my fingers and phone!

REVD TRISH