Thought for Today

1 Kings 19:11 He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.

Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

John 6:15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

No one is trying to make me king. I am not about to be tempted by the devil any more than usual; nor have I recently defeated the priests of Baal. However, every so often, I feel the need to withdraw into a modern version of “the wilderness” or to withdraw “to the mountain.” About once annually, I withdraw from social media, from the internet, from my cell phone and even from my computer. I go ‘electronically’ silent. I will be commencing my annual silence tomorrow.

Obviously, I am not brave or foolish enough to totally withdraw. I will have my cell phone and tablet with me. Were any emergency to arise, folks will be able to contact me and I them. I may even occasionally look at one or the other; but I will not be using either on a regular basis.

I suspect my grandchildren just consider my electronic silence one of Pop’s eccentricities. Of course, I am not isolated or withdrawn from society in the biblical sense. When Elijah withdrew and when Jesus withdrew, they really did go out into the wilderness. I often wonder whether or not Elijah was just totally spiritually exhausted. After all, he had just dramatically and forcefully defeated the priests of Baal. It was a total and devastating defeat of those false priests. It was also a very dangerous move politically. Elijah had real cause to fear for his life, “1 Kings 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." 3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.” There are no Jezebels threatening my life.

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit at the onset of his public ministry. In that wilderness, Jesus came face-to-face with temptations related to that ministry, to the reasons and purposes of his own Incarnation. I am not facing any similar temptations. In fact, is it even possible to be tempted when one is isolated from the internet and Amazon Prime?

It is, however, easy to become isolated from God’s good Creation in our modern world, to spend the majority of our time at a computer either working or playing. When we are ‘out in the world,’ a quick glance at those around us reveals that almost everyone has their nose buried in a cell phone. Walking, crossing the street, dining in a restaurant alone or with companions, people are looking at those phones instead of each other or at God’s Creation.

For me, it’s time for a break. I need some time disconnected from our electronic world. I’m not Neo in The Matrix, but it is time for me to take a red pill, “Red pill and blue pill are metaphorical terms representing a choice between learning an unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in the unquestioned and persistent illusion appearing as ordinary reality with the blue pill. The pills were used as props in the 1999 film The Matrix.” (en.wikipedia.org)

I promise I will return. I have too much fun sharing my thoughts 6 days each week to totally divorce myself from this. Keep checking your email, checking Facebook and logging onto firstparishofnewbury.org. My return is a promise, not a threat.

Stay safe, live lives of love, trust God,

Pastor Ray