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Accessibility.  Strived for by most.  Expected by many.

Accessibility is rated sky high in our present marketplace of values.  Recently, I caught myself thinking, "how did we get here?"  Let me unscramble that egg from my perspective.

When I was growing up, people weren't that accessible.  If you needed to talk with someone, you had to wait until they returned home.

Back then we didn't even have answering machines.  You would actually have to call back--maybe a few times--maybe even over a couple of days.  Oh, the horror!

The techno slide into our present state began conveniently.  First, the cordless phone.  The giant cordless phone.  It was amazing.  No giant-stretchy-curly-cord to pull through the house!  You could take it out back and stay connected while gardening or grilling.  People would test out their new phones by walking down the sidewalk and sometimes they'd even get reception....one house away!  Unbelievable.

Then the answering machine hit.  You could screen your calls but you had the responsibility to return them all.  

We got caller ID.  We could answer the phone and call the person by their name!  Ha!  What a trick!

Then, it was the pager.  Now you could basically get that message on your hip so you could run off to a phone and return that call.  All the while showing everyone how important you were....kind of like a doctor or a....drug dealer.

Next was the cell phone and all it's evolving versions:  the car phone, the bag phone, the huge phone, the flip, the slide, the non-flip and back to the flip...or whatever.  This took things to a whole 'nutha level.  

But the smart phone....wow.  This has taken us to new heights with e-mail, social media, phone calls, texts, being able to pin point the location of not only ourselves, but others. 

It was just 30 years ago that we called and "they weren't home" and we knew we'd "have to call back later."  Do you remember that?  Absolutely unthinkable.

If someone isn't accessible all the time, some view that as irresponsible or maybe even a defect in character. 

Isn't it funny how quickly culture changes and how rapidly something like technology can alter what we value?

In Ecclesiastes, the scriptures tell us that there is a time for everything.  I get the distinct impression from that scripture that every moment is not the time for everything, but our culture of accessibility seems to disagree.

I've come to believe that accessibility is one area of our lives that wears us out.

In their book, "The Overload Syndrome" medical doctors Swenson & Swenson identify accessibility as one of the major contributors to the stress load that plagues our society.

Maybe we shouldn't be accessible all the time.  Jesus made it a regular part of life to go off by Himself to solitary places and spend time with His Father.

The scriptures highlight how God wove regular feasts, celebrations and even the concept of sabbath into the lives of His people so that, in part, they would learn to live a healthy rhythm of life.

I'm learning to embrace His rhythm of life.  I've been learning it for years.  It's hard.  Personally, I find this to be one of the most difficult challenges as a follower of Jesus.

So, let's close with a radically practical challenge. 

As far as accessibility, let's set aside times and choose to not be accessible.

Shut off your phone.  

Don't check your texts and e-mails when you're engaged in family time or other relational moments.  (e.g.  meals, meetings, small group, church, date night, while spending time with your kids)

Let's encourage one another and spur each other on to build healthy boundaries and live life with God honoring margin.