Sunday’s Silent Sermon (01/26/2025)

I love Sundays for more reasons than space allows on my blog. I love the idea of a whole day for me to rest in the LORD and focus on my relationship with the LORD and with others. Our pastor gave a good sermon, but the best sermon came later in the day silently when our technology crashed. No cable for the playoff games or movie. No internet for solitaire or emails. No landline to call family. That’s when I realized how much of my time was spent on technology and how lost I was when it wasn’t there. I needed an “intervention”, and I hadn’t even realized it.

Seriously, when the house went quiet because the cable went out, I figured I’d check my emails or play some solitaire. But that was offline because there was no internet. And instead of picking up my journal or a book to read, I sat in my chair staring at a black screen. It took me several minutes to realize that I was lost without the technology. Eventually, I got up and started supper early making shrimp alfredo. But I couldn’t shake the realization of my over-reliance on modern technology in my life.

That’s when I had to admit that while I thought I was resting and focusing on my relationship with the LORD, I wasn’t really doing that. I was getting more and more hooked on distractions. And I learned more yesterday from the unwanted silence than I did from any sermon, even though I’ve heard some good ones.

After I made our supper, I had more time to think about this disturbing development. I realized it had happened slowly, incrementally. A game of solitaire here, a tv show there. I remembered back to the 1990s when I had completely given up television because I realized how much of my time it was eating away. Last night after thinking about my discovery in the “nothingness” of the service blackout, I recommitted to being more deliberate about my use of time, one of the greatest and constant gifts the LORD gives to me. And yes, I did tell the LORD thanks for the silent sermon that I needed.

Our lives are filled with choices. In fact, that was the topic of my blog just yesterday. Ironically, it was when I had not choice later in the day that I understood how poorly I had been choosing. And so, with deeper understanding and greater appreciation for the choices in life, I pray to the Spirit for guidance and grace to make better choices especially in my reliance on technology to fill my time.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.