Cell phone Sabbath?

My cell phone died. For the second time in a week, actually.

The first time, it didn’t actually die. It went mute. If someone called me and I happened to be looking at the phone at the moment, I could see the screen light up and answer it. But since I don’t go around staring at my phone all the time, it was basically useless.

(But this does make me think of a twist on the old “If a tree falls in the forest …” question. If a phone doesn’t ring, is anybody there? Answer: Sometimes.)

Too acquainted with the cell phone store

So, I went to the phone store, and the tech guy confirmed what I already knew. “Your ringer doesn’t work.” He gave me another phone. No questions asked.

A couple of days later, while trying to update my calendar and address book, the second phone died. Deader than a doornail, as we used to say. Kaput. It wouldn’t ring, call, receive calls, show my calendar. Nothing.

So, I went back to the phone store, and the woman who waited on me, Kelli, said the phone wasn’t indeed dead. More like it was in a coma. She hooked it up to a computer, installed a software upgrade, and gave it back to me. Like new.

Problem is, “new” isn’t so great. Because a new phone doesn’t have all my calendar and address information in it. So, I had to reinstall all that stuff. And somehow, I lost a bunch of e-mail addresses. If I’d been more stressed, I might’ve been on the verge of losing my religion, too. But since Joanna and I just got back from vacation and we’d had a great time of spiritual refreshment, I handled this setback calmly (or at least what I’d call calmly.)

Cell phone as metaphor

But my phone fiascos got me to thinking: Is this a metaphor for my life? Unfortunately, yes.

Now, all metaphors break down if you stretch them far enough, and this one will, too.  But here are a few metaphorical lessons I’ve gleaned from a dead and/or comatose cell phones:

•  We (OK, I) can get way to dependent upon technology. The world existed for a gazillion years without cell phones. Life doesn’t come to an end when one goes belly up.

•  What’s up with all this fixation on calendars and addresses? In order to do my job, I need to keep and maintain a calendar. My life is interdependent with the lives of other folks. I need to keep my commitments to them, just as I need them to keep theirs to me. And showing up for meetings, remembering birthdays, assuming responsibilities is part of the deal. Likewise, so is staying connected. Calling and e-mailing—both for work and friendship—is an important part of my life. So, like it or not, calendars and address books are vital tools for my life.

•  But I need to relax some. Constant contact (what an appropriate name for an e-mail product) is helpful but, really, not necessary. So, my phone goes out and I don’t carry that beloved calendar and all those sweet addresses for a day or two. Life goes on. Maybe I even learn something in the quiet of an enforced mini-sabbatical.

•  And speaking of words that start with “sabb …,” I realized how often I fail to set aside time for quiet, solitude and listening—not to my friends and colleagues, but to God.

A good, old commandment

OK, I hope my cell phone doesn’t slip into a coma this week, or any other week, for that matter. But walking around without it in my pocket, I found myself remembering an important commandment: “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.”

If you’re like me, you do a lousy job with that. Shoot, church often causes us to do a lousy job of that. But God was onto something in giving that commandment. We need to set aside time to focus on our relationship with God. And we—our minds and bodies and spirits—need some down time for rest, renewal and a break from labor.

So, I’m going to try to renew my commitment to keeping the Sabbath. And abstaining from the tyranny of a cell phone with calendar and address book probably will be part of the deal.