Lost

Lost! The Precious was lost!

Really, though, if I’m going with the children’s literature reference, it should probably be “Zorn! All zorn!” There’s probably a Scripture reference somewhere about the abomination of the desolation that might also fit. Suffice it to say:

My cell phone got busted. I caught it on the edge of a piece of furniture, cracked the screen, and that was all she wrote.

On my birthday.

Now, I first got a cell phone in 2002, I believe. And I’ve had a few other breaks and cracks and shatters over the years. I’ve had to do some quick turnaround replacements. This is not a unique experience.

And yet…I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so generically AWFUL to have a lost a cell phone before. It was like I’d misplaced a limb or something. I couldn’t stay in touch with friends or family or parishioners…it was horrible.

I’ve now replaced the Device, but I am still finding myself reflecting on the wretchedness of the experience. One lesson was that I might need to find ways to be a BIT less dependent on the poor thing.

But I was also thinking about lines of communication…thinking about prayer. I fear sometimes, that the cell phone with which I call God, which we call prayer – I misplace it. I don’t know as it’s ever been broken, but I certainly have left it under the bed, or behind the nightstand. The charge on it runs down, and God tries to call, and it goes straight to voicemail…

I shan’t labor the metaphor too much longer. But, in a time of transition and grief and change – in life, in short – it is so very important, so critical, to be in touch with God. To leave prayer where it can be found, to spend time on the phone with God, both speaking and listening. I hope that in days to come, I will find being disconnected from God as distressing as I once found having a broken cell phone screen.