Eric's Sunday Sermon; What Are You Using to Call and Say I Love You?

“Dad I am so sorry I have not called in so long.” “Gabriel why would that make you sorry and I certainly hope not guilty?” “Gabriel you do know that the phone works both ways, I certainly could have called you.”

And so it goes in our world of communication. Cell phones are wonderful tools that aid in discussions and planning and saying I love you or yelling at some one. I remember “party” lines and switchboard operators and 4 digit phone numbers.

But let us get back to our Gabriel and his dad. If they are normal I imagine that they think of each other at least 10 times a day. Probably sometimes at the exact same moment. And we can presume that they love each other very much. Let us also for our purposes here allow them both to be spiritual. Probably the dad taught Gabriel about such matters as God. And hopefully Gabriel took in some and tossed a whole bunch out as religious claptrap. In truth that probably pleases dad that his son is his own man.

In this scenario both are quite well educated including in the areas of, well let us just call it theology for lack of a better more encompassing word. So let us move on to assume they pray for others including each other. And let us hope they sneak in a little prayer for themselves also.

So we have this device and or devices that allow us to instantly write each other or call and talk to each other. Holy cow we can even write to one million people all at the same time. That is really cool and I like it, though I do not do that Instagram and twitter deal. But it is very cool to take a picture with my phone (which happens to be 8 years old) and message it to someone who might like it.

Again I am not comfortable doing face to face stuff unless it is like an international serious conference. It seems to me that “selfies” serve a purpose but maybe one a week or if two family members are together to send love to others.

Interesting thoughts and technology.

If I am not mistaken during the Korean War they would film and then ship the “can” back and make “newsreels” with TV just catching on. To my understanding it was severely edited and in black and white. Then came Vietnam. I think except for a transmission delay Dan Rather was basically seen live in color as real people dying came into living rooms. I can remember my mom not shielding me from it as she wanted me to know that they were real people dying not like the show “Combat”.

And now to my understanding there are people who cut off other people’s heads and if one is so inclined they can watch it live somehow. It is hard for me to get the idea of cutting off another human’s head. But I can in no fashion whatsoever understand millions of people watching it.

Conspiracy theories aside I watched the lunar landing. Sadly I also watched live the funeral march of JFK. I have seen the earth from outer space and I have seen thousands of feet down deep in the ocean. I watched live as the Berlin wall came a tumbling down. I watched live as the world’s fastest man ran the 100 meters. And I have watched as a pea sized tumor has been removed from a man’s head. Of all things I have actually seen live a sperm fertilizing an egg. Beginning of life itself.

We have developed this notion and idea and reality that we can be anywhere and witness anything on, above or beneath the earth. Even if just listening to a son 200 miles away we can connect with our electronics.

I tell you that this is a good thing. I remember the fall of the USSR being directly influenced by facsimilies (Fax machines). I remember the Arab Spring by cell phone. And I seem to remember simultaneously choreographed dance celebrations videoed across the world in a show of freedom where hence before there was very little.

I was on the line with my wife 4,000 miles away when her mom passed on and how good it was to hear her voice and her mine.

We see suffering now and do not just imagine it. And so we open our pocketbooks and send what help we can to relieve disasters. A village doctor in Cambodia can access specialists at the Mayo Clinic to help save a baby’s life. We can predict with amazing accuracy hurricanes and clear the area of those threatened.

And I think it important that we know all things happen with some grace from the divine but these are man’s accomplishments. Through this age of communication at our fingertips we do great things. With all this said can we now return to Gabriel and his father.

There is a different plane my friends. There is a plane of communication that we somehow have blocked out. We should not blame it on the above instant communication. We should not place blame on its decline anywhere. A blame game is a loser’s game. And a look into reasons for its loss of power may help in some ways but should not be our focus. Our focus should be on regaining this connectivity that we have yet too often choose to ignore.

Gabriel and his father are miles and miles physically apart. But they are so connected by love that even words pale in comparison. Does the father love the son less because he is a thousand miles away? Could we even venture to think that he loves him more? A marvelous worldwide interconnectivity exists without a device. It is called love.

We tend to think of love this or that or him or her. And that is a wonderful thing. I must admit to having more passion about somethings above others, or others above others. I recognize it. I sometimes think, hold on there, that rose is defective, should I love it less than the most beautiful? Or should I love the defective as it is more precious in its uniqueness?

It was well said that even a bad man can love those that love him. And yet it is in the loving of those who despise us that real love manifests itself. Of all the things in all the world there is only one that cannot be contained. If there is one iota of love in someone, it is connected to all other love. There cannot be a boundary or barrier to love. If Harish in India has love it is connected to Helmut in Germany. I beg the smartest of you to show where love begins and ends.

And energy that perhaps were are not meant to fully know but just to take on faith. Of course I hope this is taken in the sense in which I wrote it – only your answers matter. Wouldn’t it be funny if I intended for you to think and love as I do.

And now it would seem that when dad lays his head down at night and Gabriel does likewise, they do not need to pick up the phone and say “I love you”.