Listen to This!

Apparently I am in danger of being arrested or having my social security card stopped if I am to believe any of the phone calls I have been receiving lately.  It seems that I am one breath away from going to jail.  The intimidating voice on the other end of the phone (which I never pick up, but have to listen to) launches terrifying threats into my personal space.

Luckily I haven’t had little children around listening to my answering machine when the calls come in.  How awful it might have been for them to hear that message.

I remember being creeped out recently by the news report about the little girl who was alone in her bedroom talking to a hacker over the electronic device the family had in their home.  I expect it will haunt her for years.  You think YOUR kid is afraid of the dark?  Yikes!

Anyway, we don’t have any of those devices in our home that we can talk to, or that can talk to us, but not too long ago I was in the kitchen talking to my cereal box (that’s another story) and across the counter from me Siri started to talk to me from my cell phone.  She was responding to what I was saying.

I didn’t even realize that was a thing—that Siri was listening to me through my phone.  Once I discovered this, I naturally turned it off.  I do internet searches whenever I have a need-to-know emergency anyway, so I don’t need Siri. Sorry Siri.

I’m not what you would call a paranoid person, but I think having anything listening in on your private conversations with friends and family in your home is not good.  Maybe it’s convenient to be able to get an echo device like Alexa to do stuff for you, but I say, no thanks.

Now someone I am more than happy to invite into my home, with whom I converse and even ask for favors, is God.  God doesn’t require any programming or batteries.  And although God cannot play trivia games, set my alarm or even order pizza for me like an echo device, he does a whole lot more.

With God in your home—in your life—you will meet the one who has created you.  You can simplify your life, resting in the grace, peace and knowledge that you are deeply loved. This is no small thing—to know you are loved and accepted as you are.  It is pure gift.

If you need proof of God’s love, you need to look no further than Jesus on the cross.  What he did for us when he went through his Passion and death is incredible.  By going through that, and showing us the path to eternal life in his resurrection, he changed everything.

Now far too many of us live as if none of this matters.  We live as if the most important thing is right in front of us, in our possessions, our careers and our status.  We live for today.

But don’t you want to go to heaven after you die?  Isn’t this something you are hoping for?  When will you begin to recognize your need for God?

These are serious questions that will require a serious response.

Think of it like this.  St. Augustine said, “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.”

Are you ready to give your consent?  

Forget Alexa, God is listening.  And he is the only one that can do for you what really matters.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net