Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Recipients and people

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There is a person reading the email

Do we think about what happens when we send an email?

A person reads it. They are not a ‘receipient’, but a living, breathing person.

This is someone made in God’s image and of great value in his eyes. This person has thoughts, feelings, fears, agendas, needs and wants of their own. These may or may not coincide, clash, overlap with ours.

How easy it is to rush through our email in-box in a frenzied desire to ‘deal, delegate, defer or delete’ in a ruthless task orientated manner.

And so we toss out replies, with barely a personal word anywhere, not bothering to correct typos and not considering the reader’s frame. I confess to all this and worse when in a high-output mode,

What to do? Slow down! Breathe! Think about the person! Correct the typos! And pause to pray for the reader and the subject matter before hitting send.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Swooning with the world


Swooning with the world

One of my morning pleasures is to arrive early at work and listen to a classical music radio station through the laptop as I settle into the day with Bible and prayer. This reverie ends with their swoon segment, about an hour into the working day, after which I switch to the job list. The swoon piece typically features an evocative romantic composition.

It’s my habit to turn away from the desk, close my eyes and retreat into a Cartesian ‘stove’ during this swoon. However, the retreat is often short-lived for the world intrudes. And so today, the noise of overheard jets, outside concrete trucks and a fire engine broke the swoon.

And so I wonder: is our calling to find retreat by fleeing from the world (if this possible) or to find retreat in the world?