God or Google?

When faced with a difficult question, who do you ask?

Rabbi Schneider yesterday on  “Discovering the Jewish Jesus said  “God wants you to talk to Him more than you talk to your best friend.”   

Wow! How many of us can say we do that?  I do not really have a best friend, per se, however, I’m certain that I talk to my friends and family more than I talk to God.  Perhaps that is because people give us immediate feedback whereas God can be rather slow at rendering an opinion.  Maybe  it is a sign of the times.  Everything is so fast these days.  As  Mr. Rogers’postman used to say “speedy delivery” ...2 day shipping with Amazon, lightening fast food cooked and served, we no longer even need to wait for snail mail.  And a US traveler can reach Europe in just a few hours.  

Thinking about the pioneer days, when kids left home, they really left home.  Often times they would never see their parents again as they set off to parts unknown to begin their new lives.  People lived so far from neighbors and from church, that visits were limited to once a week or less.  And we think snail mail is slow? Try shipping lobsters across the country via Pony Express!  With the isolation that was geographically and technologically (or lack thereof) enforced, who WAS a person to talk to in times of trouble, or even in times of joy?  The One Who is always ready to listen. God.

Perhaps that is the reason modern people can have such a difficult time time connecting with Him these days.  I’m speculating, but it’s possible that  in days gone by, it was second nature to include Him in everything.  It just seems there are too many things competing for our collective attention now....things 

Iike  devices.  Next time you visit a restaurant, glance around and notice how many folks are looking down at a cell phone rather than the person across the table. We do it to each other, might we not also be doing it to God?  I for one know that I fire a message off without even thinking of consulting the Holy Spirit, whose job it is to be my helper.  

This morning after writing this post, my scheduled reading for the day opened with Isaiah 31:1

“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help

And rely on horses,

And trust in chariots because they are many

And in horsemen because they are very strong,

But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!”

I think I will write this down and afix it to my iPad in an effort to remind myself to always talk to God before I hit send.