Cell Phone Blues

This was an ordinary Winter day.  Massive snow squalls and wind causing white outs that made driving a great risk. I had not checked the latest weather thinking that the snow storms predicted had passed us by.   I had appointments in the city so decided I would drive down to make it to these.  MISTAKE!   Half way down the white outs became so brutal,  I decided that I had better head back to the farm to play it safe.  I stopped and went to call, canceling my appointments.  Voila!  I forgot the cell at the farm!

Found my way to the nearest wi-fi place to send a message.  Done, but my Outlook wouldn’t send the email.  So then I searched for a pay phone….ever try to find one these days?  Finally, success and I called to leave a message.  It wasn’t received in a timely way and so I inconvenienced a couple of fine people with whom I was supposed to meet.  Fought my way back to the farm thinking that the messages were sent and I arrived safely (Thank the Lord) only to find out that the messages were not received.  YIKES! 

Oh boy, did I ever feel naked and vulnerable without my cell.  What if I went into a ditch?  They would have to dig out my frozen body next Spring and then I would not be able to apologize.  I was not prepared for the worst even in terms of warmest clothing, etc.  What a brain cramp!

This all made me stop and reflect on the good ol’ days.  You know no cells, no email and plenty of pay phones that cost only a dime.  Made me think of what we would have done then.  Well for starters we would have more vigilant of the weather, more predictive of what lay ahead and made the land line phone call to give some advance warning.  If push came to shove, we might have used smoke signals or the pony express to get the message through!  Point is, we would have taken more personal responsibility for our own safety and the convenience of others.  I did neither so I owe apologies to both colleagues and myself.

Lesson learned? 

This makes me think back to the founder of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.  She had no phones, email or anything other than ordinary letter writing.  In her life time (from 1835 until 1868) she established and maintained contact with 110 new missions around the world and stayed connected with each through faithful letter writing.  What a marvel of ancient technology!  This all has caused me to start to challenge myself  to a more faithful, relaxed and, yet, consistent manner of being in this modern, highly rushed society in which we live.  Less anxiety and more thoughtfulness might be the most revolutionary prescription we could issue ourselves in order to stay centred and healthy.  Think I will give it a valiant effort. 

But first, I need to go charge my cell phone, in case I miss an important message!