Hard to communicate.
When I was a little girl we had a black rotary dial telephone that sat on a table. In a regular household they all look the same, same size, same shape, and same color. One of the things my parents watched for was any of us playing on the telephone, because we really weren’t playing, we were listening to the neighbor’s conversations. Back in the day we had what is called a party line, meaning, more than one person used a telephone line and each house had a specific ring, for instance two short rings and one long would be the signal that meant the phone call was for your phone at your house. I think I must’ve been about seven years old when we got a private line, and not long after that we got wall-mounted phones, and the phones actually came in different colors.
Antonio Meucci invented what he called the talking telegraph in 1849, and in 1871 he filed a caveat on said talking telegraph. Caveats must be renewed, and because of financial difficulties Antonio Meucci was unable to renew the caveat on his talking telegraph or telephone, as some called it. This left the field wide open to Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell. It is said that on February 14, 1876 the lawyers for Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both went to the patent office to apply for patents on the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell’s attorney was the fifth to arrive that morning to apply for patent, Elisha Gray’s attorney was number 39 on the same day, so the patent was awarded to Alexander Graham Bell, thus giving him the honor of being known as the father of the telephone. On June 11, 2002 the 107th Congress passed a resolution honoring Meucci’s contribution in the invention of the telephone.
With today’s modern phones, with texting capabilities, along with multimedia apps, one must wonder if the talking telegraph would not be more appropriate name for the mobile phones we’re using today. There is one similarity in the phones of the past and the phones of the present, you must have a good connection to receive your calls. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, two weeks ago we got hit by lightning, and our connection was severed, thus eliminating any possibility for us to receive calls or to make calls from our house phone. The first repair man came to the house and replace the missing box that the lightning strike evaporated. To the new box he connected the old ground wire, but nothing else. A week went by and I placed another call to the phone company asking when he would return. Their response was, ” this phone was reported fixed, so would I please go out and plug phone into the outside box and test the line” I went outside, trying to be a good customer, and saw the gaping hole in the ground with the exposed wires, knowing plugging the outside phone in would be futile. The repair man returned Saturday to fix the underground wire, and connected it to the new box, and lo and behold I now had a new connection. With that connection I now can receive and send calls from my home, which gives me peace of mind knowing we could call 911 if the need ever arrises, (like if lightening would strike near by).
Being out of touch with the outside world, and unable to call for help if it were needed, reminded me of how we can often become out of touch with our Heavenly Father. We get a bad connection, or the connection gets severed altogether, because things interfere with our communication with God. Just like when you let your mobile phone run down till there is no power source left, we let ourselves run down and lose our power source because we don’t plug in to God’s Holy Word to be recharged. Our communication skills become poor because we don’t take care of the equipment God has given us, to maintain communication and connection with Him. Reading His Word and our daily prayers with God is the best way to maintain that communication connection. One of the most powerful verses in the Bible states: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Romans 10:13. The beautiful thing about this verse is that it is a binding promise from God. You don’t have to worry about cell towers, battery power, or even good connection, you just have to call upon His name. Did you notice that in this verse that God said “whosoever”, not the rich, not the famous, not that teachers, or the preachers, no one is named specifically, it is an open invitation to everyone for salvation if you’d just call upon His name.
As parents it is our job to teach our children the communication skills they will need to get through life. The most important connection they will ever make will be their communication with Jesus Christ. He provided us with an intergalactic phone book, which holds the answers to the universe if we just open it up, and read it. It is something we should do with our children every day to hone those communication skills.
We as authors, communicate more with ink and paper then we may on our phones. It is the type of communication skill that we have honed to get us through life. That in no way means that we should ever disregard or neglect the communication we have developed with our Heavenly Father. That skill should be as comfortable to us as writing is, and even more fulfilling. Who have you called and communicated with today?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Isaiah 30:21
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
II Timothy 3:16
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Matthew 10:27
I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.
I Corinthians 10:15