vunglaub

Folks talk about “unplugging” . So one day I left my phone at home, and walked away from my computer. By afternoon , I ran into an old friend and asked “What do folks mean by Unplugging?”.

“Oh silly lady, you know , get rid of these distractions” he said tossing a phone across the table.

The screen was blank , dark black . It looked as if ,for the first time , my friend had turned off his phone. . Perhaps together , we would be “unplugged”

“Is unplugging like not having a charge “ I asked .

“Not at all.. its more than that , it’s not wanting a charge out of all the nonessential that comes from this damn machine. ‘ He snarled at the small black square like a enemy or a nagging wife.

Yes , old man , I thought as we looked at each other silently . Almost awkwardly ,neither of us admitting that we did not want to be with one another without our phones . Indeed, these phones give us a personal charge , we said. So with old fashioned effort , We talked . We talked about storms and wars . Tired quickly we were then silent again. The birds spoke. And I began to think

What if old man… what if we had no other place to plug in ? Would we plug into one another and these birds and the One who created us both? And then . It would not be such a silent world. We would not be living , as we live now, the prophetic song , “the sound of silence. “ We would not be as people “speaking without listening”. We would instead be speaking as those who see each other speak with our eyes . And when we would see, we would hear.

In the land of the unplugged we might hear one another’s voices and hearts and intentions . At the same time, we may hear dreams and regrets. We would hear so much as we looked eye to eye . Eyes clear and Eyes with tear. Delighting in each other’s tone and tension , we would hear innuendos and and hesitations ,all hinting at eternal longings . We would hear one another without distraction but , instead, with something divine.

For in the land of the unplugged, we might hear God speak between us. Because we all have heard how He whispers and how he has a very still small voice . We might say “ah, stop , quiet, I hear He is speaking to us right between us” . It is something that we wouldn’t want to miss in the land of the unplugged.

Indeed in the land of the unplugged, we would have but two to hear , possibly three if we talk to ourselves. But mostly we would only hear the one in front of us and the One who made us.We would be very useful in the hand of of the Creator if we were unplugged. Ah…More so than our phones are to us!

We would be very useful devices for His kingdom. He would hold us ever so securely , take us to places where we could inform others and show others His wonders and delights. And every “selfie” taken would be in the image of Him who loved us made us and called us to plug into Him.That is what it would be like in the land of the unplugged ..

“Are you okay” the well intentioned man said.

“Oh yes , just day dreaming about…”

“About what?“ He asks .

“Pappy, pappy, Here pappy” his grandson shouted across the lawn and ran to him, “here’s your charger” .

Oh “thank God “ the good intentioned man replied . And he moved from picnic table to outlet with lively youthful confidence. Familiar Life would begin again.

“About what were you daydreaming ? “the man asked again as he looked at his phone.

“Oh about visiting the land of the Unplugged. “ I replied.

“sounds boring “ both child and old man replied together.

Both laughing at how they spoke in synch, they looked at each other then at me.

“We will see” I said. “ I am fixin to go there . I’llL let you know “

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1.But how can we who neglect ourselves be able to correct someone else? We are wrapped up in worldly concerns, and the more we devote ourselves to external things, the more insensitive we become in spirit. From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope (Liturgy of the hours Saturday Oct 15)