Missing a Call

For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14 

Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling

Will L. Thompson, 1880

Verse 1

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

calling for you and for me;

see, on the portals he’s waiting and watching,

watching for you and for me 

Over the weekend I worked a COVID vaccine clinic for high risk patients. In the afternoon, we were ahead of schedule and we set up a few volunteers to call patients who were scheduled later in the day to see if they could come early.  Since this was generally an elderly population who had just received a call to come for vaccine in the last 48 hours we were asked to not leave messages and only speak with those who were scheduled for an appointment (or the family member who would be bringing them). This absence of messages was an effort to avoid confusion.  

As I was calling these individuals, from a number they definitely wouldn’t recognize, I thought about the times we avoid answering a call. On our cell phone or home phone we may ignore a call from someone that we don’t know, or suspect to be a telemarketer or bill collector. Maybe we ignore a call from someone who is very chatty because we don’t want to make time to speak to them. Maybe we ignore a call from work, or church or another group that we volunteer with because we feel the need to protect our personal interests and we know they are calling to ask for time or money. Maybe we ignore a call from a relative because we are avoiding a conversation or argument. 

I wondered how often we are missing out from something that we desire because of our own conscious avoidance? What if that number we think is a telemarketer is actually someone offering us a vaccine? Or someone asking us to come in early for something that we are waiting for? What if it is our work calling to offer us an incentive or promotion? What if it is our church asking us to be involved in a once in a lifetime opportunity for service? What if the chatty friend is reaching out because they are having an emergency, or that family member we have been avoiding is calling to make amends? 

Technology is a blessing and a curse. When I was a teenager I didn’t have call waiting or caller ID and I was envious of friends who did. As an adult, call waiting means that I have to decide which call is most important, the one I am already on and the one that is coming in. With caller ID I can see who is reaching out to me and make a conscious decision to accept or ignore. I don’t need an answering machine or voicemail to screen my calls the way that I may have 20 or 30 years ago. What am I missing or trying to control with these actions?

Prayer: God who sends us messages, help us to be open to your call and to contacts from other who are trying to reach us. In these difficult times, help us to have faith that those reaching out are doing so for a reason. Let us use our conscious avoidance to end undesired calls instead of ignoring them. Amen

Christi Moock