“Life just seems so full of connections. Most of the time we don’t even
pay attention to the depth of life. We only see flat surfaces.” ~ author unknown
Every
morning Nathan would slide one of the single tables into place, hook up his
laptop, electronic notebook and Smartphone, order a double skinny latte, into
which he poured three packs of sugar, then hunker down for the next three plus
hours. The place even had free Wi-Fi. In
went his ear buds, and the world and its problems disappeared into oblivion.
Charlie, 70 years old and a widower, came to the
coffee emporium everyday to read his newspaper. He could make coffee and read
the paper at home, but the big old house was just too quiet now that Madeline
was gone. He missed Maddy, and the bustle of the coffee shop took his mind off
his loneliness.
For some time now he had been observing Nathan.
The boy never seemed to talk to anyone. Heck, he never seemed to even look up
from whatever it was he was doing! Charlie, on the other hand, talked to
everyone. The “coffee girls” all knew him by name as well as did a number of
the patrons.
Nathan noticed that the old guy in the cardigan
sweater, seated at the small table by the window, seemed to be watching
him. He wondered who the old dude was.
“He reads a newspaper for God’s sake!” he thought. “Who even does that
anymore??? I can read any one of 100 papers from around the world anytime I
want. Sheesh!”
To his surprise Nathan realized the “old guy” had
risen from his seat and appeared to be coming toward. “Ahhh man, I hope he
doesn’t come over here,” thought Nathan. “WHAT A DRAG!”
Charlie stopped in front of the young man’s table
and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Charlie” he said, but the young man just stared
at him. Then he realized Nathan still had “those things” in his ears. “Hi! I’m
Charlie!” he said louder, extending his hand more emphatically.
Nathan plucked out his ear buds. “Nathan,” he
responded. “Whaddya want?”
“Nothing, really; it’s just that I see you in here
all the time and I thought I’d introduce myself.”
“Yeah, OK,” Nathan replied slowly replacing his
ear buds. Then he stopped. “Why do you read a newspaper?” he asked pointedly.
Charlie blinked in surprise. “Well,” he began, “every morning I check the
Obituaries in section D and if my name’s not listed I figure I’m going to have
a good day.”
Nathan didn’t get the joke, but Charlie took the
opening. “Why do you hunker back here in the corner by yourself?” he asked with
a genuine note of concern. “I’m multi-tasking,” Nathan replied curtly. Charlie
thought for a moment. “Is that sort of doing a lot of different things all at
once without paying attention to any one thing?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Nathan scowled,
sticking one ear bud back in place.
“Would you like to borrow my paper?” Charlie
asked. “Seriously?” Nathan barked. “What
would I want your newspaper for?” “Maybe
you’d like to check the weather?” Charlie offered.
“I can check the CURRENT weather anytime I need
to… In fact, I can check just about
anything I want right from here… See? Or
anytime any place for that matter!”
“No need to get your boxers in a bunch,” Charlie
answered calmly. “Just thought I’d make some conversation.” He started to turn
back toward his table.
Nathan thought for a moment. “Wait a minute, come
back a second.” Charlie turned to face him again. “Why did you really come over
here?” Nathan asked pointedly.
“Truth be told?” Charlie began. “I never see you
talking to anyone. You always seem distant, lonely. I know how that feels. I never see anybody sitting with you so I
thought you might like someone to talk to for awhile. But if you’re busy multi-whatevering, I understand.”
Nathan’s screen had timed out and gone blank. It
reminded him how empty he felt when he wasn’t busy filling the void in his life
with electronic interference. He closed
the lid on the laptop and pulled out the one remaining ear bud. “Why don’t you
sit down for a minute?” Nathan said with a sigh of what seemed like relief.
“First, let me buy you a cup of coffee,” Charlie
replied with a smile. “You drink one of those Latte things don’t you?”
Contrary to popular belief, “we are not human
beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human
experience.” (Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin). But there is much in our lives which distracts us from
“being” the spiritual beings we really are.
The electronic devices which make our
communication so simple and efficient are a great gift, but they can also
become a dangerous narcotic. While they allow us to do many things at once,
they can also cause us to be inattentive to more than one thing at once. (And
perhaps, even inconsiderate of more than one person at once.) So much so that we can become inattentive to
our lives and the lives of others. We find ourselves skittering along the
surface of life rather than diving into it, plumbing its depths.
In order to live deeply, we must acknowledge that
our life is “grace-filled.” There is often
much love and wisdom in the world resident in people like Charlie. Do we take
the time to see the grace in others and share the grace within ourselves?
We must also come to the realization that no
matter how much we have or how much we accomplish, power, prestige and
possessions will never give us the satisfaction we desire. Ego is an insatiable beast. It tortures us by
only giving us glimpses of happiness.
If we are to become stewards of our own lives, we
must, like Nathan, be willing to change. We must embark intentionally on our
own journey of faith. This will mean taking time daily to plumb the depths of
our spirituality and bring our new found realizations into our everyday
life. The first step is to be willing to
take the first step. Like Charlie, there are many spirit guides out there,
waiting and wanting to help.
Dear God: Remind me that life is sometimes like a
glass of chocolate milk. The sweet stuff is often at the bottom.
“It
is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the
surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are
willing to search for it.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
German playwright, poet, novelist and dramatist (1749-1832).|
Twitter: @DeaconJimCarper |
©2012 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.
“90
Second Stewardship” is a reflection on being a Christian Steward in a secular and sometimes
harsh world. This reflection is written by Deacon James E. Carper of 
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