Posted here with permission and a great read and reminder for all:
Talk to Me:
This was our world in the 60’s: Angie……phone! Immediately the sound of rushing footsteps can be heard upstairs as Angie flies across the wooden floors and catches every third step on her way down to the kitchen. The kitchen wall phone, now supporting a dangling handset, still twirls from being “gently” dropped by Angie’s brother. She scoops up the phone, looks around quickly to see who might be listening, then answers with a perky “hello”. She has been waiting on “him” to call. The sound of “his” voice draws a smile the size of Texas across her face. He has tried to call several times before, but Angie has been out. Okay, so she did get a message from her family about his previous attempts to reach her, but in the 60’s it is simply not acceptable for young ladies to call boys. So you can understand how her disappointment has suddenly changed to the sheer thrill of finally getting that special call.
Bill practices his jump shot at the neighborhood park a short distance from his house. He’s played basketball since he was six and thanks to lots of hard work and dedication, he has learned to control all 6’6” of his lanky yet muscular frame and use that height to his full advantage. What college team wouldn’t want Bill? Yet he has not heard from the many scouts that had come to see him play. Could he have missed the call? Did his sister, Debbie, forget to give him the message? She is such a “scatter-brain”! He wonders and he waits.
Thankfully, technology has marched on and most families have phones in every room as well as in every car and in just about every pocket. It is true that today we go virtually nowhere without our lines of communication. Frankly, it is just about impossible to miss a call – that is unless we choose to do so. Caller ID lets us know who is calling, call waiting tells us if we want to interrupt one conversation to receive yet another and our high-tech message machines completely fill us in on the calls we did miss once we return home. And taking it a step further, our computers are now linked with our “smart phones” to further insure we receive not only our calls, but our e-mails wherever we are – just as soon as the sender presses “send.” We can even search the World Wide Web to search for deals while we shop. And did I forget to mention the “text”? In many cases that has done all but wipe out the necessity of making a call to our friends and family.
Wow, this is all amazing, isn’t it? Well, isn’t it? Amazing technology, yes, but I believe this also represents the death of something very important to us all. Sometimes I just need you to “talk to me”. Nothing fancy – just let me hear your sweet voice on the other end of your “device” – smart or dumb. Not a text, not a message, not an e-mail – YOU. I want to hear you breathe, hear you respond to me when I speak to you, not misunderstand what I mean because I might use ALL CAPS in my e-mail. It makes me look at the “dark side” of technology and how it may be eroding families, friendships and even business relationships.
Now that I have the “dander up” of the younger set, let’s talk. This ball we call earth seems to be spinning much faster than ever before in the history of man. Even the young people are noticing how “time flies”. Why is this? Could it possibly have anything to do with the “busy-ness” of life? By not taking the time to slow down and talk to me you can shoot me a text with lightening speed and go on with whatever you have been doing. You might even be able to do it without thinking about it – just type and shoot. ‘Something wrong with that’, you ask? Well, maybe not on the surface and especially handy if you want to get a little bit of information out to a large number of people at one time. Imagine having to make all those calls! However, we are all guilty of sending things in writing that should have been said in person or handling “delicate” issues, issues that require confronting others, by “shooting” e-mails or texts. In doing so, we do not have to actually see the face of the intended receiver when that verbal punch is thrown. We get things off our chest and onto someone else’s without truly understanding the damage that may have been caused. And often times our correspondence is taken totally different from its intention. Not to mention we are missing lots of laughter together and love that can be felt through kind words given and actually heard.
Then how do we slow down our spinning world? How do we live in the moment? How do we make sure we stay connected with those that matter in our lives? We are busy people! I wish I had the answer to that. But I do know in the 60’s we had to wait. We had to wait on folks to call us. We could not hurry things up. Funny, but we had the same 24 hours in the day we do now. However, I don’t believe our lack of modern technology was all bad. It helped us learn to control that urge to move too quickly with answers or decisions – we learned to wait. I also remember we took the time to speak kind words to family and friends that gave comfort when comfort was needed or sang Happy Birthday on their special day instead of clicking a button to send our greetings. E-mails and texts have their place and are useful tools in the age we live in – I use them myself, but please let my words remind you of just how special your voice is; just how special your eyes are and how special the love that you show by your presence matters. Next time you want to send a greeting, before you press “send”, slow your spinning world down a bit and consider picking up the phone and making that call. I can tell you for sure there is someone waiting on the other end that will have a smile the “size of Texas” when they hear your voice. Love says “talk to me”. Very soon the precious moments you could be having could turn to precious memories. Will your heart ache because you did not take the time to really talk?
Wonder if we would use the World Wide Web to connect with Jesus if we could? Perhaps there is a reason we can’t. He wants us to come to Him, to sit at His feet, to connect on a personal, relational level. He wants us to listen, to respond – to KNOW Him. ‘Not much different than what should be happening between us all, is it? Jesus is quite the example, isn’t He? Do you know someone in your life whose heart’s cry is “talk to me”? I know I do.
Vicki Simpson, 2011
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