When ‘call waiting’ first arrived on the scene, my immediate assessment was this was a new technology that allowed one to be rude to two conversation partners simultaneously.  It’s even easier to be rude now that call waiting on my phone identifies the second incoming call and asks me whether to put the first caller on hold and go to the second caller or to end the first call in favor of the second or whether I want to ignore the second caller and let them go directly to voice mail.

Why is it that all new technologies make the pecking order favoritism that we first encountered on school playgrounds and at lunch tables just work faster and more ruthlessly?  Swipe-right, anyone? 

The other day was one of those in which phone calls seemed to come steadily and it was not unusual to end one call and discover a voice mail or two that had accumulated during the just-completed phone conversation.  Ordinarily this is no problem; I just work my way through the pending calls to return.

But sometimes, I will hang up from one call and immediately write an email or make another phone call or see someone outside the office waiting for me to get off the phone.  It’s in situations like this that I forget to check for messages that came in while I was on the first phone call.  And once I have forgotten to check, well, it can be a while before I happen to see the little reminder on my phone that a message (or two) is waiting.

In almost every instance, delays in my retrieving a message do not create a big problem for anyone.  In almost every instance the message is not terribly urgent.  Almost but not every instance.  Sometimes, missing a message by just minutes can be too late.

We are all busy with many things.  Some of you are far busier with phone calls and emails than I could even imagine.  Work responsibilities, whether involving technology or not, demand our attention at all hours.  Some have your hands full with children or grandchildren or parents.  None of us have idyllic, uncomplicated lives.  We get busy.  We experience sensory overload.  We miss things.

We can easily miss the messages God whispers while we are swirling around frantically trying to do all the other things we are required to do. 

Here’s the good news: God’s message will be waiting for us when we stop and take a breath, when we open our heart to listen.  Maybe more than one message has accumulated since the last time you checked.

Prayer:  I know that sometimes I miss your call.  Sometimes I miss it while I’m anxiously working on just the thing you wanted to talk with me about.  Sometimes I miss it because I’m not in the mood to talk or listen.  Thanks for leaving messages.  Thanks for not hanging up on me when I finally get back to you.