Spiritual Autoresponders

Once in a while we get a chance to escape our daily routine and take a vacation. If we plan to truly unplug, in order to be responsible, we program our email or voicemail with an autoresponder. So, when people attempt to contact us, they receive an immediate response telling them we do not plan to respond to their communication—anytime soon.

 

Or when someone signs up on a new website, they receive an automatic ‘welcome’ message with instructions or sales pitch—to convey that ‘personal touch’. 

 

When you receive an automated response, don’t you feel special?

 

Once, I tried to leave an encouraging comment on a friend's blog.  It failed.  I got an automatic email that called me a 'spambot' and said my comment was 'illegal'. So much for good intentions.

 

We live in a time of computerized voicemail systems, programmed customer service mazes, self-help online troubleshooting—all designed to herd us toward a solution with as little personal connection as possible.  I’m not bashing this wonderful technology…even though it can be infuriating at times, like when my needs don’t fit the pre-determined scripts. I admit I usually feel relief when a real voice of a real person answers and offers help.

 

Taking the idea of autoresponders to a more personal or spiritual level, I think we would benefit by an occasional ‘system wipe and restore” to re-examine how we interact with folks: 

 

o     If we want someone to help us, can we do a better job in honoring them, treating them as though their time is valuable, and asking for assistance nicely and humbly . . . instead of assuming they are like a vending machine where you push a button and expect immediate ‘output’? 

 

o     Can we learn to listen fully first to someone’s situation, to hear their heart, before we launch into ‘fix-it-advice’ mode? 

 

o     Do we allow ourselves to get in a rut in our relationships, where we may get lazy and fail to laugh, get creative, affirm, encourage, or say, 'thank you'?  When is the last time you responded differently to a friend and surprised their socks off?

 

o     When ugly, unwarranted, vicious words attack, are we skilled and alert enough to put up our ‘shields’ and let those curses deflect back to the attacker without allowing our peace to get even slightly disrupted--sort of like an auto-responding anti-magnetic force field?

 

o     When we ask for God’s help, are we willing to take time and effort to process—and wait—to see the bigger picture and to work on a deeper relationship as we go?  God is not a vending machine, either, and I don’t think he feels the pressure to always produce solutions for us--right NOW.

 

Thank you for reading today’s Destiny Dreamz blog.  For more information regarding dream interpretation or other spiritual topics, please go to www.DestinyDreamz.com or contact usfor further questions, but you may have to wait 5 – 7 business days for us to get back to you.